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Coljuegos, the Colombian game regulator, is initiating an emergency institutional monitoring process due to the earthquakes in the south-western region of Colombia on 10th August. The project aims to evaluate the operational effect on gambling activities in the regions where there is damage to infrastructure or essential services.
Early evaluations revealed damage to the structure of physical gaming establishments and disruptions in electric power, telecommunication, and Internet services. These interruptions could impact land-based operations as well as online systems relying on real-time data transfers and connections.
Coljuegos Assesses Temporary Relief for Affected Operators
The disruption may make it harder for operators to comply with the requirements of some regulations under the time limits, such as providing operational data, reporting and settling, and paying exploitation rights and administrative fees.
Coljuegos is in the process of exploring temporary options that might offer greater flexibility to operators impacted by the measures on reporting and with regard to financial commitments. The goal is to ensure that the response to the extraordinary situation is proportionate to it and doesn’t disrupt the industry’s regulatory structure.
It is being carried out by the fundamental principles of effectiveness, efficiency, coordination and good faith that have been provided by Colombia’s Constitution and the powers given to Coljuegos by the country’s gambling law.
Measures Will Not Represent a Waiver of Payments
Coljuegos pointed out that measures taken in response to the emergency will be only temporary. The regulator is not entertained with the idea of a permanent cancellation, forgiveness, and waiving of operators’ financial obligations.
Rather than that, the proposed actions would suggest modifying the timing and how the requirements are applied in certain cases, to accommodate the situation of the operator in an affected area. They will be officially announced by the appropriate administrative decisions and through the official channels of Coljuegos.
The regulator also reminded that the revenues from gambling will be used only for healthcare services, as stipulated in the Colombian constitution. Ensuring the maintenance of this destination is a crucial part of the gambling revenue system of the country during an emergency.
Operators Asked to Report the Impact
Operators in the impacted area are expected to record the impact of the earthquake in detail as the assessment continues. This means reporting structural damage, equipment loss, loss of electricity or internet service, and the time when the operational systems were not available.
Data gathered via industry associations will also be used as part of Coljuegos‘ overall evaluation. This will enable the regulator to gain a clearer picture of the challenges faced by the sector in operating and assess the need for further temporary adjustments.
Coljuegos will continue to have its institutional communication channels open for reporting, asking questions, and requests to affected operators. Once the assessment is done, the regulator is supposed to make the decisions through administrative steps in the form of formal decisions.
The answer is an attempt to reconcile continuity with the very special context that the natural disaster has created, and to keep the obligations and public health benefits of Colombia’s gambling industry in place.
Source: iGaming Brasil
