Argentina: online gambling legislation approved in Cordoba province

The unicameral Legislature of Cordoba approved on December 26 the Bill N° 34270/L/21, which establishes the regulation of the online gaming activity in its different modalities within the Argentine province.

The law will regulate online gaming through the creation of a Registry of Online Gaming Licenses, in order to collaborate "with the State in the detection and eradication of illegal games, in the fight against fraud and delinquency".

The legislators Orlando Arduh, Silvia Paleo, Darío Capitani, Raúl Recalde, and Alberto Ambrosio, who are the authors of the initiative, highlighted that "this is a regulation proposal that has already been proposed in different parts of the country".

During the parliamentary discussions, there were changes in the regulation that allowed the number of licensees that may participate as companies or under the modality of transitory company unit (UTE) to be increased from 5 to 10, the duration was reduced from 20 to 15 years and the possible penalties and fines were increased.

All online versions of casino games, sports betting, lotteries, and other activities " that are defined by the regulation", in which "amounts of money are at risk on future and uncertain results, regardless of whether the degree of skill of the players predominates in them or whether it is exclusively luck or chance", are included in the regulation.

On the other hand, the regulation establishes subjective prohibitions of access for minors, individuals who appear in the Registry of Non-paying Food Debtors, and shareholders or owners of gaming licenses, among others.

In the vote count, the bill obtained 46 votes in favor, 17 votes against and one abstention. The entire opposing party rejected the bill, with the exception of the five legislators who promoted it. In addition, three members of the ruling party -Mariana Caserio, Doris Mansilla and Miguel Maldonado- also expressed their opposition, while Matías Chamorro was the only one who abstained.