Chilean Senate committee backs online gambling ban
A Chilean Senate committee has backed two amendments to ban online gambling platforms, dealing a blow to the government’s plan to license and tax private operators.
On Monday, the Senate Economy Committee approved the amendments by three votes to one, with one abstention. Both would block a regulated private online betting market, although they set out different penalties.
Senate President Paulina Núñez and fellow National Renewal (RN) Senator María José Gatica tabled the first amendment. Committee chair Gastón Saavedra of the Socialist Party and Broad Front Senator Diego Ibáñez tabled the second. Saavedra said the committee would merge the two texts at its next session.
The vote marks a sharp turn for the bill. On 26 October, President José Antonio Kast’s government sent the Senate amendments to legalise private operators. They included five-year licences, 19% VAT on the difference between bets and prizes paid and an extra 3% levy.
The Ibáñez and Saavedra amendment would replace the bill entirely. It bans operating, running, offering or advertising online betting platforms in Chile. Any platform that takes bets from Chile would count as operating in the country, wherever its servers or domain sit.
State lottery operator Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, lottery operator Lotería de Concepción, authorised racetracks and land-based casinos would be exempt.
Offenders who break the ban for profit could face between 541 days and five years in prison and fines of 200 to 1,000 UTM, Chile’s inflation-linked monthly tax unit. Internet providers, app stores and payment companies would have to block access, downloads and transactions.
The Núñez and Gatica amendment also rules out a private licensing market. It lets courts block illegal sites permanently and restricts their payments and advertising.
Offenders could face up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to 10,000 UTM in serious cases, CNN Chile reported. These include deliberately targeting minors or operating in defiance of a final court blocking order.
Senators clash over ban
Ibáñez defended reopening the debate, pointing to a Supreme Court ruling on the platforms.
“Why do I think we need to open the political debate?” he asked, according to ADN Radio. The court, he added, “declares this business illegal and orders all online betting houses to be closed”.
Independent Senator Matías Walker opposed the ban, arguing that regulation would make operators take out licences and pay tax.
“I think prohibition is the worst path,” he said. “It’s the best scenario for the companies that have never wanted to regularise, that have never wanted a state licence, that have never wanted to pay taxes.”
Deputy Finance Minister Sebastián Vallebona suggested that rejecting the government’s plan would leave children less protected from gambling addiction. RN Senator Manuel José Ossandón hit back.
“I don’t accept that,” he said. “I worked for 20 years in poor neighbourhoods you don’t even know, so don’t come and tell me that.”
The Chamber of Deputies has already passed the bill, and the Senate approved it in principle. The Economy Committee is now reviewing it line by line. The Senate Finance Committee will examine it next.