The new games of chance law would be approved in Bolivia in a month

“I estimate that in a month the Lottery and Games of Chance Law will be approved and companies that have contracts (signed with LONABOL) have to adequarte to that norm”, he pointed.

Cárdenas assured that owners of those business have expressed their disagreement with the project because they increment their taxes from 15% to 30 % and a 15 % to players, so, adding both sectors, they make a total of 45 %.

The authority indicated that casino businessmen are obliged to comply with the new norm, although they do not agree with it, because they will not be the only ones that will will have to regularize their situation before the new regulatory authority of the sector, but others that will demand their respective operating licenses.

"According to the new norm, companies that have contracts in force have 120 days to adequate to the new norm and the companies that want to invest in the country will have to present the application forms so they may be granted the licenses", he claimed.

Article 21 of the bill points that the creation of the Authority of Gaming Investigation and Control (AJ) "Will be the only entity authorized to grant licenses and permissions, supervision, control and sanction the operations" in the companies dedicated to lottery and games of chance.

The source mentioned that currently it does not exist a norm to regulate the activities of this entertainment sector, and it does not count with an entity with similar competences to the ones that the new AJ will have, either.

According to article 22, AJ structure will be comprised by an Executive Director, an operational technician, technical, administrative and legal managers and a unit of internal auditing. Besides, AJ will be able to grant 10-year licenses for lottery and games of chance companies or for special promotions.

Besides, the regulatory entity will establish the characteristics of the machines, instruments, software, accesories and any other media used for games, both importad or manufactured in the country.

Additionally, it will be able to confiscate those instruments if they are not according to the new law or apply the sanctions that will be included in the same norm. Another faculty of the AJ will be to coordinate with autonomous local and regional governments, because the bill proposes to create lottery games in each region.