Paraguay Senate committees review bill to create DINAJZAR gambling regulator; Conajzar says it has 12 staff
Paraguayan senators held a joint committee session on October 26 on the executive's bill to replace the gambling regulator Conajzar with a new National Directorate of Games of Chance. Conajzar's president told senators monthly collections had risen from about G12 billion to G21 billion, while committee chair Luis Pettengill said the regulator has only 12 staff for the whole country. A more defined text is expected within 15 days.
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Overview
- Paraguay's Senate Legislation Committee led a joint session with several other committees on October 26 on the bill creating the Dirección Nacional de Juegos de Azar (DINAJZAR).
- Conajzar president Carlos Liseras said monthly collections had risen from about G12 billion to G21 billion and warned about clandestine gambling.
- Senator Luis Pettengill said Conajzar has only 12 officials to supervise the sector nationwide and that the 1997 gambling law predates online gambling.
- Senators expect a more defined text within 15 days.
Joint committee session
The Senate's Committee on Legislation, Codification, Justice and Labour, chaired for the session by its vice-president, Senator Luis Pettengill, met on October 26 jointly with several other Senate committees, including Finance and Budget, Public Health and the anti-narcotics committee, to examine the bill "creating the National Directorate of Games of Chance and establishing the legal regime for games of chance", according to the Senate's official release. Representatives of Conajzar, the tax agency DNIT, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and private gambling operators took part, in person and online.
The executive sent the bill to the Senate on October 12, ABC Color reported. It would abolish the National Gambling Commission (Conajzar), which was placed under DNIT about a year ago, and create an autonomous regulator linked to the executive through the MEF.
What was said
Conajzar president Carlos Liseras told senators that the sector's monthly collections had risen from about G12 billion to G21 billion, and that Conajzar's revenue helps fund the social assistance agency DIBEN. He warned that clandestine gambling and illegal betting reduce state income by avoiding licence fees.
MEF representatives said the design should not be judged only on revenue, and called for an efficient structure in line with other countries in the region that avoids disproportionate growth of the institution. Juan Sosa, speaking for private operators, said: "The reality is that today DNIT has no time to attend to it and, as a result, illegal gambling grew enormously." Senator Ignacio Iramain said gambling addiction should be addressed as a public health issue.
Pettengill said Conajzar has only 12 officials to oversee the sector across Paraguay and struggles to act against operators that break the rules. "We have a great lack of control over games for minors in every city in the country," he said. He noted that the current law dates from 1997, before internet gambling changed the market, and said the committees aim to have a more defined, consensus text within 15 days.
Neighbouring regulators are also revising their online rules, as in Peru's proposed changes to remote gambling regulations.
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Patricia Cruz aims to bring a different perspective to familiar industry conversations. Through in-depth articles and thematic reports at AskSpinner News, Patricia draws attention to details worth questioning and connections that can be overlooked, using the news as a starting point for a closer look at the business of iGaming.
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