Coljuegos
Tolima Lottery Transferred More Than $6.4B to the Health System in 2023
![tolima-lottery-transferred-more-than-$6.4b-to-the-health-system-in-2023](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/133244-tolima-lottery-transferred-more-than-6-4b-to-the-health-system-in-2023.jpg)
In 2023, the Tolima Lottery transferred a total of $6439 million to the health sector. These resources, for the most part, were generated as monopoly income and come from the total sales of the traditional lottery game achieved by the company in the same period.
Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez, president of Coljuegos, indicated that, by 2023, the Tolima Lottery recorded sales for a total of $24,762 million, which represented an increase of 23% compared to 2022.
“During the previous period, we were able to see how lottery game operators in the country considerably increased their sales. This is significant if we take into account that the more lottery tickets that are acquired by players, the greater the amount of resources that can be transferred to the health sector,” said the president.
Likewise, the official mentioned that, in 2022, transfers from the Tolima Lottery were $6331 million: “This indicates that, in the last two years, transfers to health from this lottery amounted to $12,770 million,” Hincapié said.
Thus, it is worth noting that, in total, the 15 authorized operating companies transferred $417,131 million during the periods 2022 and 2023 for all concepts (monopoly income, tax on winners, tax on foreign lotteries, and expired prizes), with sales that reached $1.6 billion in the last two years.
“We want to highlight the contribution that the Tolima Lottery has made to the health of the department. Likewise, we invite all players to buy only from authorized distributors and their trusted lotteries,” concluded the president of the entity.
Coljuegos
Colombian Regulator Plans to Overhaul Slot Machine Laws in 2024
![colombian-regulator-plans-to-overhaul-slot-machine-laws-in-2024](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/130881-colombian-regulator-plans-to-overhaul-slot-machine-laws-in-2024.jpg)
Coljuegos, the Gambling Authority of Colombia, has published plans for a “regulatory project” to overhaul the rules on owning and operating electronic slot machines (ESMs).
The regulator plans to initiate the project in 2024, a move deemed critical as Coljuegos seeks to terminate the “illegal economy” of unauthorized ESMs operating across Colombia’s 32 federal territories.
The project is accompanied by a “public comment period” open until 14 December, to allow industry stakeholders and interested parties to submit feedback on initial proposals.
According to Coljuegos, the project aims to promote “territorial development with the replacement of illegal economies with legal ones, considering the productive capacities of intervened areas.”
The market size of illegal ESMs is estimated to be worth up to COP 945bn (€220m), accounting for approximately 34% of the total ESM marketplace.
Coljuegos estimates that 50,000 illegal machines are operating across Colombian territories, causing a significant loss of income to the state.
The project’s initial requirements call for all venues operating ESMs to certify their business status with Coljuegos. This requirement is essential as Coljuegos will implement new criteria for land-based venues to operate ESMs based on legality, the principle of opportunity, and the promotion of peace.
“It is imperative that companies wishing to collaborate with Coljuegos comply with this condition to guarantee equity and trust in the selection procedures,” the authority emphasized.
Once the process is advanced, Coljuegos will publish the schedule, procedures, and other financial requirements for those businesses wishing to operate licensed ESMs.
The regulator initially proposed to limit the number of machines to 80 per operator, with the exact number dependent on the size of the venue and the population of the local area. The project also outlines the tender’s duration, certification for gaming machines, prize limits, and the identification of technology suppliers.
From 1 January 2024, Coljuegos will become the central monitor of gambling advertising, and Colombian operators will undertake significant regulatory changes.
Licensed operators will abide by a new “tiered system” of advertising, whereby the more revenue an operator contributes to the state in taxes, the greater allowance they will be granted to spend on marketing campaigns.
Canada
Coljuegos Welcomes Dr Libos Zúñiga as New President
The government of Colombia has confirmed the appointment of Dr Libos Zúñiga as new President of federal gambling authority Coljuegos.
Zúñiga, who is well-versed in economics, presently holds the role of deputy director of fiscal policy at the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. His prior roles at the Ministry have included advising on the retail sector and tax policy.
Further experience saw Zúñiga work with civil service agency ECON Estudio as a researcher, where he concentrated on public policy consulting and competition policy. He also devoted some time to the Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), providing his expertise as a consultant.
In addition, Zúñiga has served as a professor of a number of university courses, covering macroeconomics, regulation and competition and issues related to the implementation of public policies.
Zúñiga takes leadership of Coljuegos following a shake-up of Colombia’s Civil Service leadership by President Gustavo Petro.
Coljuegos had been leaderless following the resignation of President Roger Carrillo Ocampo, a Conservative Party member who criticised President Petro and La Humana Colombia’s plans to overhaul the nation’s public healthcare system.
Succeeding Carrillo Ocampo, Zúñiga becomes the fourth president of ColJuegos since 2020. President Petro and La Humana Colombia Party have been accused of “political manoeuvring” by opposition members to ensure that sweeping healthcare plans are approved by Congress.
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Altenar
Altenar insight with Hugo Llanos: Tapping into LatAm’s potential
With the LatAm market continuing to fulfil its untapped potential, there is still plenty of decision-making and exciting news to come from the region. With a vision to succeed in Latin America, we sat down with Altenar’s Americas’ Regional Director, Hugo Llanos, to discuss what he believes will happen in the next 12 months.
Talk us through Altenar’s vision for LatAm and success in 2022 – what’s been key to making Altenar one of the most popular providers in the region?
Altenar is one of the best sportsbook platforms currently operating in LatAm. We support and provide our award-winning service to some of the most important operators across multiple countries throughout the region, such as Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and all the way up to Canada. I believe our success lies in both our flexibility and ability to be truly more of a partner in success to our operators, rather than just a provider. We work hand in hand with each of our customers in order for us to help them achieve their objectives.
In your view, how is the LatAm market currently faring? Is it ahead of where you expected to be or is there more work to be done?
The industry used to think of LatAm as the next big thing, a place full of potential that was sitting there waiting to be served. Now a very established continent for online betting, I believe LatAm has already proven to be a very important region for sports betting and iGaming, and one that is really rewarding to the right brands. To achieve that, it has taken local content, local knowledge and a different way of reaching out to the customers. We have come a long way and you can see there are many operators within the region working hard on getting their brands known. Just like all success in business, there’s always more work to be done, but this time I believe it would be more in terms of regulation as the products are now innovating in their own right.
The decision on Uruguay’s bill is set to be discussed further in March. If legislation passes there, how successful do you think that region will be?
Uruguay is a small country in terms of population, but it has always been ahead of the new trends when it comes to discussing hot topics and even including new laws. I honestly believe Uruguay regulating sports betting will really put pressure on others within the region to regulate themselves – and one would hope it would provide a further domino effect for new markets to come online.
Colombia was the first to have the bill passed and they began regulated online gambling in 2016. What does the future hold for quite a mature market now?
Colombia is a real case study of success for LatAm. Since the very beginning of its regulatory process, they had operators signing up and working from the off. Right now, 17 operators are now live in the country, and more licences are expected to be issued in the very near future. Thanks to Coljuegos’ pro-active approach, the local audience was able to find quality entertainment, with the government providing a trusted environment for it to be enjoyed. The economic benefits are also clear, as the iGaming industry creates a lot of jobs directly and indirectly for Colombia given the funding provided via taxation of the industry. As we can see, regulation, when done correctly like Coljuegos has done, is a win-win situation. Of course, given such a conducive environment, I see plenty more room for the industry to keep growing there.
What makes the LatAm market different from any other across the world and why is it so appealing?
For me, it’s two key things – the first being the sheer size of the population (just look at Brazil!), as well as of course the pure passion Latin America has for its sports. Of course, this passion translates into betting and given the demographics, it has the potential to unlock an extensive potential customer-base. As is well known, most of the continent speaks the same language (although each country has its slight variations) except, of course, for Brazil, which in many ways is a sub-continent in its own right and one which holds significant appeal for the industry once it properly regulates.
Where do you see the LatAm region a year from now?
I do believe more countries will be regulating their online environments, and this will create a scenario under which many more providers will be emerging onto the scene, which will no doubt fuel competition, and in turn, innovation. Alongside that, the need to differentiate will create a greater imperative to take a fresher approach to marketing and advertising, but it is no doubt a challenge that the best brands will welcome, as all businesses should. For me, working with LatAm for so long has been a very fun place to operate, and I’m very happy to be part of such an exciting journey.
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