Internet betting regulation, Peru one step closer
The regulation of online sports betting in Peru has been discussed at the highest political levels for some time. The preliminary bill presented by Mincetur at the beginning of March is now joined by the legislative initiative promoted by Congresswoman Diana Gonzales that has been unanimously approved in the Committee on Economy, Banking, Finance and Financial Intelligence of the Congress of the Republic. It should not be forgotten that Peru is still mired in a great institutional crisis.
In Peru, the necessary steps are still being taken to implement the regulation of online gambling and betting. ©Alvaro Palacios/Unsplash
Last March the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur) presented a preliminary draft law through which gambling and sports betting on the internet are regulated. The goal is to implement effective and adequate control of online operations access to which is not illegal in Peru.
Mincetur waits like this to raise about 160 million soles annually in concept of taxes that could be dedicated to the reactivation of tourism, public infrastructure works and the promotion of sports. Mincetur's preliminary draft suggests the application of a direct tax on net income of 12%. The legal deadline for the issuance and promulgation of the regulation has not yet expired.
Bill promoted in the Economy Committee
At the initiative of Congresswoman Diana Gonzales the legislative text provides for the regulation of distance sports betting via the internet or some other means of communication with the aim of preventing money laundering , a problem that the lack of a state regulation would not be adequately addressing.
In the initiative of the congresswoman also it is contemplated to provide greater support to Peruvian sport through the taxes that the state would collect. The basic framework is the same one that Mincetur presented this year; and that is that the draft approved in the Congressional Economy Committee refers to a bill presented last September: Law No.168/2021-CR, which only now could be discussed, and approved unanimously, in the legislative chamber.
In this way, Peru continues to take the necessary steps to create the institutional framework that regulates gambling and sports betting on the internet. Mincetur should be the institution that as Coljuegos in Colombia would be responsible for implementing and supervising such regulation as well as establishing control over the operators that would become legalized under the domain .pe .
With more than 33 million inhabitants Peru is the fourth country by population in South America and one in which more bets on the internet . This is an attractive market for international operators like Betsson that they have already been positioning themselves waiting for the regulatory framework to be approved. In this sense, it is most likely that Peru will continue the model established by Colombia in the face of more decentralized legislation such as Argentina or Mexico.
Peru lives a major institutional crisis since the arrival to the presidency of Pedro Castillo he has not managed to stabilize the country.
The national football team, however, has earned the right to be in the intercontinental repechage for the World Cup held this year in Qatar, and passing over Colombia, the great disappointment of the South American qualifying phase. The Peruvian team will face the winner of the qualifier between the United Arab Emirates and Australia on June 13 in Qatar. That the Peruvian national team managed to be present at the Qatar World Cup would be a great incentive for betting that they would multiply. It is by those dates that the regulation of internet gambling should be ready.
