Coljuegos Elaborates on Its Blueprint to Regulate Gambling Advertisements in Colombia

Colombia’s prime gambling regulator, Coljuegos, has shed light on its ambitious strategy to oversee gambling promotions across the nation. The agency has recently drafted a resolution, aiming to take charge of all aspects of gambling advertisements, encompassing marketing, sponsorships, and various commercial communications.

This draft resolution, pending approval from the Congress, presents comprehensive guidelines for ad content, expenditure limits, and stipulated penalties for breaches. It also emphasizes the necessity for operators to incorporate systems that can identify customers at potential risk of gambling harm, ensuring that such individuals do not receive targeted promotional content. Moreover, the resolution introduces a stipulation for accepting deposits exclusively through pre-paid credit cards.

Key highlights from the advertising directives include:

• Ensuring the prohibition of deceptive portrayals, especially those that present gambling as risk-free or cost-free.
• Barring testimonials where individuals claim positive outcomes from gambling.
• Restricting ad placements in youth-dominated areas.
• Mandating age constraints for advertisements on search platforms.
• Forbidding content distribution to those who have opted for self-exclusion.
• Licensing prerequisites for any operator looking to sponsor Colombian sports entities.

Setting Boundaries on Gambling Marketing Expenditure

The proposed resolution introduces a cap on marketing expenses, restricting operators to allocate merely up to 20% of their anticipated Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR) towards promotional endeavors. For their inaugural year, an expenditure ceiling of COP9.28bn (€2.07m) is set.

Operators would be obligated to submit an annual plan detailing their projected advertising investments. Coljuegos, in its supervisory role, could demand quarterly reports on marketing and advertising expenditures to ensure regulatory adherence.

In a recent disclosure, Coljuegos reported a notable 16% uptick in tax collections from gambling entities for the January to August duration. This amounted to a significant COL $564bn (€125m), bolstering the national health service fund to COL $750bn (€166m), which aligns with Coljuegos’ primary social mission.

Nevertheless, tax compliance remains a focal point of contention. Marco Emilio Hincapie, the President of Coljuegos, has issued a stern warning to all licensed operators, emphasizing their tax obligations. He stressed that numerous operators currently fall short of the requisites for license acquisition or renewal.