Kaizen Gaming Colombia, owner of the Betano.co brand, was authorized by Coljuegos to operate online betting in the country. With this new operator, there are now 16 web platforms that have the approval of the entity to market games of chance online.

“We continue to strengthen the online gaming industry. We hope that, with the entry of this new operator, we can continue to increase transfers for the health of Colombians. At this time, the platform is already operating for the betting public,” said Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos.

The entity is also in the process of authorizing an additional operator called Bingo Casino, which is expected to begin offering bets in the coming weeks.

It is worth mentioning that, by 2024, it is estimated that online betting portals will pay around $419,527 million to Coljuegos for exploitation rights, which represents an increase of 31% compared to the same period in 2023. All of these resources are transferred to the health system.

“We are seeing that online betting is a sector of the economy that has driven the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. That is why we are working to make the market even more attractive and to provide more options to bettors,” said the president.

According to financial projections, this new operator is expected to pay Coljuegos around $21.513 billion over the next five years for operating rights and administration costs, resources that can be transferred to subsidize health and scientific research.

In 2023, the Tolima Lottery transferred a total of $6439 million to the health sector. These resources, for the most part, were generated as monopoly income and come from the total sales of the traditional lottery game achieved by the company in the same period.

Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez, president of Coljuegos, indicated that, by 2023, the Tolima Lottery recorded sales for a total of $24,762 million, which represented an increase of 23% compared to 2022.

“During the previous period, we were able to see how lottery game operators in the country considerably increased their sales. This is significant if we take into account that the more lottery tickets that are acquired by players, the greater the amount of resources that can be transferred to the health sector,” said the president.

Likewise, the official mentioned that, in 2022, transfers from the Tolima Lottery were $6331 million: “This indicates that, in the last two years, transfers to health from this lottery amounted to $12,770 million,” Hincapié said.

Thus, it is worth noting that, in total, the 15 authorized operating companies transferred $417,131 million during the periods 2022 and 2023 for all concepts (monopoly income, tax on winners, tax on foreign lotteries, and expired prizes), with sales that reached $1.6 billion in the last two years.

“We want to highlight the contribution that the Tolima Lottery has made to the health of the department. Likewise, we invite all players to buy only from authorized distributors and their trusted lotteries,” concluded the president of the entity.

Coljuegos, the Gambling Authority of Colombia, has published plans for a “regulatory project” to overhaul the rules on owning and operating electronic slot machines (ESMs).

The regulator plans to initiate the project in 2024, a move deemed critical as Coljuegos seeks to terminate the “illegal economy” of unauthorized ESMs operating across Colombia’s 32 federal territories.

The project is accompanied by a “public comment period” open until 14 December, to allow industry stakeholders and interested parties to submit feedback on initial proposals.

According to Coljuegos, the project aims to promote “territorial development with the replacement of illegal economies with legal ones, considering the productive capacities of intervened areas.”

The market size of illegal ESMs is estimated to be worth up to COP 945bn (€220m), accounting for approximately 34% of the total ESM marketplace.

Coljuegos estimates that 50,000 illegal machines are operating across Colombian territories, causing a significant loss of income to the state.

The project’s initial requirements call for all venues operating ESMs to certify their business status with Coljuegos. This requirement is essential as Coljuegos will implement new criteria for land-based venues to operate ESMs based on legality, the principle of opportunity, and the promotion of peace.

“It is imperative that companies wishing to collaborate with Coljuegos comply with this condition to guarantee equity and trust in the selection procedures,” the authority emphasized.

Once the process is advanced, Coljuegos will publish the schedule, procedures, and other financial requirements for those businesses wishing to operate licensed ESMs.

The regulator initially proposed to limit the number of machines to 80 per operator, with the exact number dependent on the size of the venue and the population of the local area. The project also outlines the tender’s duration, certification for gaming machines, prize limits, and the identification of technology suppliers.

From 1 January 2024, Coljuegos will become the central monitor of gambling advertising, and Colombian operators will undertake significant regulatory changes.

Licensed operators will abide by a new “tiered system” of advertising, whereby the more revenue an operator contributes to the state in taxes, the greater allowance they will be granted to spend on marketing campaigns.