Senator submits proposal to ban ATMs in casinos and gambling halls in the province of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires provincial senator Daniela Reich has presented a bill to prohibit the presence of ATMs in casinos, bingos, racetracks, slot machines, and "in any public area where bets are placed for money or any other means of payment."

Likewise, the legislative initiative also proposes to prohibit machines to carry out transactions with foreign currency or loans, and electronic media devices to send money with credit and/or debit cards.

If approved, the bill estimates that "the ATMs already installed and in operation within the premises [...] shall be deactivated within thirty (30) days after the enactment of the present law."

In turn, it contemplates that the provincial Executive Power must adopt the pertinent measures within 60 days to comply with the proposed law.

In her arguments, the senator of the PRO Libertad party argued that the proposal is made "considering the immediate availability of money as a concrete action that encourages compulsive gambling."

Meanwhile, Reich recalled that in 2016, under the administration of the former governor María Eugenia Vidal, the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos (IPLyC) of Buenos Aires decided to remove casinos' ATMs as part of a program to prevent compulsive gambling. However, she questioned that in 2022 the measure would be reversed.

Click here to access the bill presented by Senator Daniela Reich.