Ever since Colombia legalized online gambling in October 2016, various operators and developers have rushed to be among the first to brake onto the new market. This Latin American country has now handed out their eighth license since the legalization of online gambling, and the first one in 2018.
The ones to carry the torch for all subsequent operators who will be entering the Colombian market this year is the largest Spanish gambling operator, Luckia. According to the terms, the license was awarded to Luckia Colombia S.A.S. for a five-year term, and the agreement's value is estimated at $3,800,000.
Juan B. Perez Hidalgo, President of Colombia's gambling regulator, Coljuegos, has emphasized that Colombia is the first country in the Americas to regulate online gambling!
He commented, “There are already eight websites offering legal online gambling: wplay.co, betplay.com.co, colbet.co, zamba.co, codere.com.co, mijugada.co, masgol.co and now luckia.co. Companies are having increasingly higher expectations about the online gambling industry in Colombia, with a regulation that allows those who meet the financial, technical and legal requirements established by Coljuegos, to enter into this market.”
Perez Hidalgo went on to elaborate about the technicalities of Colombia's legalization of online gambling. The big reason that online gambling legalization was possible was the exclusion of the Value-Added Tax during the 2016 Tax Reform which allowed for the competitive gambling market to flourish. With the help of National Police and Ministry of Information and Communication, Coljuegos will continue to “control the blocking of unauthorized websites and will try to increase the number of licensed operators”.
Source:
“Luckia takes eighth online license in Colombia”, igamingbusiness.com, February 23, 2018.