Government Progresses Bill to Regulate Online Gambling in San Juan

With this tool, the Caja de Acción Social will be the body that will control online gambling.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (July 29, 2024) –The Orreguista administration has made progress on a bill to regulate online gambling in the province. The initiative is practically ready, to the point that, according to the president of the official bloc, Juan de la Cruz Córdoba, it is expected to enter the Chamber of Deputies this Thursday to be analyzed by legislators. The objective of the project is simple, to cover a legal loophole that today allows the existence of internet platforms that offer bets, a strategy that is not regulated as it is in San Juan with agencies and casinos. In addition, a key point of the project is to attack child gambling addiction, which has grown exponentially in the country. In short, with the law, the Executive seeks to achieve a tool so that the Caja de Acción Social (CAS) is in charge of giving the corresponding authorizations and, thus, have internet bets controlled.

According to official sources, platforms that do not have the authorization of the CAS and continue to operate may be reported to the courts and their owners may be charged with a crime that carries a punishment of between 3 and 6 years in prison, as established by the Penal Code.

The Orreguismo has been working for some time on a project to regulate online gambling, but, above all, to attack the problem of child gambling addiction. The fact is that a large number of children are betting online on different websites, which range from sports betting to simulating slot machines. In addition, to this situation is added that minors begin not only to bet, but to make contact with unknown people, to whom they provide accounts, passwords and even generate “credits” so that they continue betting. There are unofficial local reports that indicate that there are children aged 8 or 9 with gambling addiction problems.

According to official sources, with the sanction of the law, the CAS will have the power to prohibit betting websites that do not have local authorization. In other words, in San Juan, access to platforms that are not authorized will not be possible, while the rest can be reported to the courts.

Regarding the project, Deputy Córdoba explained that it is expected that during the session this Thursday, “a project from the Executive will be introduced on the subject of gambling addiction” that aims at “prevention, education and also regulation of online games that are currently generating problems and a disease such as compulsive gambling. At the same time, when it is uncontrolled, it is more harmful when there is money involved.” In this context, the legislator said that “it is a project from the Executive on a topic that is hot and worrying, which affects the health, above all, of young people who are falling into the vice of gambling” so “this must be regulated and regulated.”

Regarding minors and online gambling, there are different sectors of society that have been demanding a solution, one of them being the Church. In fact, in statements to Radio Sarmiento, the Archbishop of San Juan, Jorge Lozano, acknowledged that “we discussed this with school authorities, especially at the secondary level, and there is significant growth, the government has even convened a working group where the local problem is being analyzed and that has to do with what we suggest, there are things that have to do with national laws and others are carrying out preventive campaigns, it is something more specific to each province.” A key point, which will be seen if it is included in the project or not, is that of the advertisements, which today appear on different sites and social networks, so they reach any minor.

So far, there are different provinces that have made progress in the sanction of laws to regulate online gaming. One of them is Córdoba, which is analyzing whether to apply changes to the norm that it has already approved. Mendoza has regulated it since 2020, while Buenos Aires, since 2001 and the Autonomous City, from 2021.
A key point of the regulation is that those sites that do not receive authorization from the Caja de Acción Social may be reported to the Justice and their owners receive punishments ranging from 3 to 6 years in prison, as indicated by the Penal Code to any person who “exploits, administers, operates or in any way organizes, by themselves or through third parties, any modality or system of attracting games of chance without having the pertinent authorization issued by the competent jurisdictional authority.”

SOURCE: 0264news