Legislation
Uruguay – Alternative online gambling bill to be put forward in Uruguay
By Phil - 13 January 2022
Political Party The Cabildo Abierto (CA), part of the Uruguayan government coalition, has spoken out on the regulatory proposal for the online gaming industry. Members of the party want to impose a fixed fee on online operators and said that they will put forward a more complete proposal.
The proposal would include online identification of players so that players would not be able to gamble more than a certain percentage of their monthly income. New legislation would also encompass landbased slot gambling as part of a wider gambling bill.
The CA Party stated that that the project in its current state was “very incomplete” and announced the drafting of an alternative by Deputy Sebastián Cal. Talking to local newspaper La Diaria Deputy Cal said: “If we are going to talk about online gambling, it is an excellent opportunity to sink our teeth into a lot of things related to gambling.”
In November Uruguay’s Executive branch sent a bill to the senate that would permit both state run and privately run casinos to offer online casino games including poker roulette and slots. The bill, signed by President Lacalle Pou, would give the General Directorate of Casinos of the Ministry of Economy and Finance authority to run online casino games, and gives the Executive branch permission to authorize private companies that already operate casinos as well as future license holders permission to offer online casino games.
Deputy Sebastián Cal criticised the proposal almost straightaway and urged caution. “At the moment, I see this project as somewhat superfluous and I think that we should work very seriously to take care of citizens and put the needs of the Uruguayan people before those of any online or gambling company.” Currently online gambling is prohibited by article 244 of Law 19,535 of 2017, although online sports betting is permitted via government monopoly.
