Betano gains Colombian gambling licence
The operator has been granted an online licence by the Colombian gambling regulator Coljuegos.
Colombia.- The Colombian gambling operator Coljuegos has granted an online gambling licence to Kaizen Gaming’s Betano. It becomes the 17th licenced online gambling operator in the country. It has already gone live.
Coljuegos president Marco Emilio Hincapié said: “We are continuing to strengthen the online gambling industry. We hope that, with the entry of this new operator, we will continue to increase transfers that benefit the health of Colombians.”
He added: “We are seeing that online betting is a sector of the economy that has driven the growth of the country’s gross domestic product. For this reason, we are working to make the market even more attractive and to provide more options to bettors.”
Hincapié estimated that the online gambling sector will have paid around COP 419.5bn (€90.4m) in exploitation rights by the end of the year, and increase of 31 per cent compared to last year. Most of the funds go to healthcare.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Ecuador has lifted its ban on gambling advertising. President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador ordered the removal of articles in the previous government’s Executive Order 421, which was issued last year.
Noboa took office in January, replacing Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, and swiftly announced a constitutional review. Land-based casinos and bingo have been banned in the country since a 2011 referendum called by the then president Rafael Correa. There remains no legislative framework regarding online gambling, which has led to the emergence of a grey market.
The government created a register of gambling companies in July after the revenue agency SRI’s Law on Economic Efficiency and Job Creation was passed. This outlines rules for registering for income tax, which was set at 15 per cent on gross revenue for all verticals. Player winnings are also taxed at 15 per cent.
