COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Juan Camilo Carrasco, Asensi Abogados
Gaming Machines METs are defined by having an entry point for coins or notes, which allows the player to participate and receive their prizes. According to Colombian law, slot machines can only be operated in casinos and at commercial premises that comply with the relevant regulations. The regulation of METs permits the operation of slots in casinos and other establishments such as hotels, restaurants and bars, and keeps the same certification conditions as those in casinos. The regulation for interconnecting METs requires that all slots be connected to the regulatory reporting system. For control and reporting purposes, all the slots and other gaming machines must be integrated into a system that is connected to the regulator and that allows access to all the information from each machine. The software and the system must be certi- fied by an authorised laboratory before the regulator. Casino Games Roulette, blackjack, craps and baccarat are among the gaming products generally permitted. The law includes the category of “others” for providing broad gaming offers. The law states that a “casino” is defined as an estab- lishment dedicated exclusively to the operation of localised games that require the presence of the per- son in order to be played. Virtual Sports/Race Betting (ACDV) These are regulated as part of the land-based port- folio, with a specific set of rules governing the legal, technical and financial conditions for such games to be offered. The conditions are stated with detail in Agreement 14 of 2013 and Agreement 6 of 2015. No applications have been received for a licence to oper- ate these games; however, under a different modal- ity and conditions, they may be offered through the online verticals. Lotteries and Permanent Betting Lotteries and permanent betting (commonly known as “chance”) are regulated at the regional level, which means that the authority that supervises their opera-
tion is the National Council of Games of Luck and Chance ( Consejo Nacional de Juegos de Suerte y Azar , or CNJSA). Lotteries are a type of game carried out on a periodic basis by an authorised legal entity. Such entity issues indivisible or fractional tickets – which are each sin- gled out by a numerical combination and other char- acters on display, at a fixed price – and puts them into circulation. The operating entity is bound to award a previously fixed amount of money as a prize to the holder of the lottery ticket containing a combination of numbers (or pre-established approximations thereof) that coincide in their order with the one obtained at random in a public drawing carried out by the operat- ing entity. These games are administered at a regional level. Lot- teries are organised by the following, either directly or through an association or third parties: • Bogotá, as the capital district; • the Colombian Red Cross, which has the legal authority to exploit a lottery that is traditionally operated to raise funds; and • those municipalities that were exploiting lotteries before the regulation came into effect. Permanent betting, known as “chance”, is a game in which the player states the value of their bet manu- ally or systematically on an official form and chooses a number of no more than four digits. If that number matches the result of the top prize of the lottery (or a game authorised for that purpose), the bettor wins a prize in money, in accordance with a predefined prize plan and as authorised by the national government by regulatory decree. The responsibility for administra- tion also lies with the regional government. Horse-Race Betting These are among the regional-level games under the control of the CNJSA and were regulated in detail under Agreement 179 of 2015. Responsibility for administration lies with the regional government of ‒ or with the entity who holds the monopoly in ‒ the district in whose jurisdiction the game will operate.
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