Argentina: Córdoba province to tender 10 online gaming licenses running for 15-year period

After the enforcement rules process of Law 10.793, which regulates online gambling in the Argentine province of Córdoba, the Lotería de Córdoba (Lottery of Córdoba) announced in the Official Gazette on Friday, May 20, that the call for national and international public tenders for the granting of up to 10 licenses for the organization and operation of said activity in this jurisdiction will be made.

The news was announced after the provincial government published Decree 460 on Wednesday, in the Official Gazette, which enables the new regulation and aims at legislating virtual betting.

The assistant manager of the Legal Department of the Lottery, José Alonso, explained: "Online gaming is already in force in the province, but now what we are going to do is to make a call for tender, for those aspiring to be licensees."

He also explained that "the suppliers are going to attract new games or others that are already in other platforms, so that they can be operated online, such as lottery games, casino, sports betting and others."

"We are formalizing a situation that has been illegally developing in the province, to which we are giving a framework of legitimacy and protection for all players," the executive stated when defending the implementation of the law.

The implementation of this regulation generated controversies in the province that even led to the suspension of legislator Orlando Arduh. However, the regulation was approved and today the call for bids for national and international firms will be made.

According to the text, the law aims to regulate online gambling through, among other actions, the creation of a Registry of Online Gambling Licenses, as well as "collaborating with the State in the detection and eradication of illegal games, in the fight against fraud and criminality."

In order to operate online gambling in the province, the companies or business groups must submit and acquire the national and international bidding documents between May 23 and June 10, and the envelopes with the technical and financial proposals must be sent to Lotería de Córdoba before July 5. The application process foresees that 10 companies or joint ventures, with up to 30% of foreign capital, will obtain a 15-year concession, which would start to be in force in September this year.

Among the key points established by provincial law 10,793, online betting by minors, food debtors, owners of gambling licenses, and people related to the sports activity on which the bets are placed will be prohibited. It was also established that judges or referees related to gambling, as well as people from the Lotería de Córdoba, as the enforcement authority, will not be allowed to access these sites. In addition, a prohibition will be applied to persons who are beneficiaries of "social assistance plans or programs, financed by national, provincial or municipal government agencies."