Peru to legalise online gambling and sports betting

The Peruvian Congress has approved the new legislation with no votes against it.

Peru.- The Peruvian Congress has voted to approve legislation that will legalise online gambling and sports betting. The law, which will create a new regulatory framework for the verticals, received 91 votes in favour and none against.

The law will be overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru (Mincetur) and will come into effect 60 days after its publication in the official government gazette, El Peruano. As well as online gaming and sports betting, it will also allow the creation of venues for remote sports betting where players can place bets via betting terminals.

Under the legislation, correctly licensed operators will be able to offer bonuses for online gaming as they cannot be exchanged for money. Sports betting operators will have to display messages on all platforms warning that “excessive online sports betting can cause pathological gambling”.

The legislation sets gaming tax at 12 per cent of each operator’s tax base (net income minus maintenance costs), to be collected on a monthly basis. A maintenance tax of 2 per cent will be charged on monthly income. Tax will be collected by the tax agency Sunat.

The penalties for breaching regulations will range from a warning and a fine of up to SOL200 (€50) for minor offences to a licence disqualification, either for up to 10 years or permanently. Mincetur will have the authority to temporarily close an operation and confiscate assets as a precautionary measure.

Elsewhere in Latin America, gambling legislation is still being held up in Brazil.

See also: The UK rules out ban on loot boxes