Following several years of heated debate, the Argentinian province of Buenos Aires finally approved Decree 181 in December 2018. Set to take effect on Friday, April 5, the new piece of legislation which has recently been published in Boletín Oficial, the country’s Official Gazette, contains provisions for the regulation od a wide range of online gambling services in the territory of the province. In addition to that, it will also make Buenos Aires the very first province in the country to legalize online gambling services.
Despite being signed off by the governor of Buenos Aires in December last year, not much noticeable progress was made after that since there was so much more that needed to be done before the industry could truly grab hold. One of the items on the to-do list was having the decree published in the Boletín Oficial which has since been checked off the list.
Argentinian law stipulated that the responsibility of legalizing and regulating online gaming and betting activity fall under the jurisdiction of the individual provinces. Now that Buenos Aires has taken the leap forward, the implication is that other provinces in the country will follow suit and introduce their online gambling legislation.
What the Bill Entails
Decree 181 authorizes the provision of online slots, online casino games, horse racing betting, virtual sports betting as well as sports betting. It even allows betting on non-sport events so long as the events in question are not of a political nature.
The online gambling activities in the province will be overseen by the Buenos Aires Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos. It will also be tasked with manning the licensing process for interested gaming operators. To secure these licenses, the interested will be required to meet 20 specific requirements which if met will make them eligible to acquire for one of the seven online licenses that have been authorized by the decree.
Licensees will then be required to comply with the gaming regulations defined by the Buenos Aires Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos one of which states that they have to adhere to a strict marketing plan. In essence, the idea is to ensure that the online gaming services are not being marketed to underage people – in Argentina, the legal gambling age is 18. Furthermore, the licensed operators will be obligated to create a responsible gambling strategy which will have to include a self-exclusion program.
Already, in its current state, the gambling atmosphere in Buenos Aires is receiving a lot of praise for the way it has been implemented. According to local gambling experts, the range of gaming products that are now available in the Argentinian province is arguably the most comprehensive in the whole of Latin America.
