Colombian regulator to block 300 gaming sites

Colombia has moved to block more than 300 egaming sites including Ladbrokes, 888 and PokerStars in an effort to enforce its licensing regime.

The country’s gambling regulator Coljuegos said last week it had asked the country’s Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications to enforce a ban, with the government expected to comply.

Coljuegos said the country is losing £100m in annual tax revenues thanks to unlicensed operators.

“This [IP blocking] will allow us to obtain more resources for health and to ensure that Colombians who use these pages are assured that they will not be ripped off and that operators will pay their taxes,” said Juan Pérez, president of Coljuegos.

Other brands to be blocked include Ladbrokes, Paddy Power Betfair, 32Red, Unibet, bet365, Betfred and tombola.

The Colombian licensing process opened in October last year but a 19% VAT on player deposits disincentivised operators from applying for a licence.

A tax reform in late December has since scrapped the tax and made the market more appealing to operators, with the forthcoming IP blocking also expected to speed up applications.

GVC, which operates several brands on the 325-site blacklist, said it would be monitoring the market closely and potentially applying for a licence.

A spokesman said the immediate impact of the IP blocking would not be material since it was not actively operating in Colombia.

Another operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, told EGR Intel the IP blocking was not a surprise, and it would be seeing how the market develops before applying for a licence.

“It’s a shame they didn’t wait to see if there is renewed interest following the removal of the VAT before they started blocking,” the operator said.