Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies has been pressured to issue an explanation as to why it has “shelved plans” for a review of specific amendments to overhaul the South American country’s gambling regime.
Chamber freezes gambling project
This comes after lobbying efforts by APOJA, (Paraguayan Gambling Association), suggested that the Chamber needs to provide interested parties with an update on the proposed rules review.
At the end of 2023, the commercial body secured the support of ministers to present six articles that amend Paraguay’s Gaming Law. The law had specific provisions to end monopoly rights over sports betting activities.
Then, ministers supported APOJA due to a controversial betting tender administered by Conajzar (Paraguay’s National Gambling Commission).
But Conajzar was accused of abusing its privileges by launching a bid for a national sports betting franchise without consulting authorities. Daruma SAM, operator of Aposta.LA betting houses, received the concession.
However, the concession was immediately postponed, as Conajzar was placed under suspicion by CONACOM (National Competence Commission), Paraguay’s competition authority.
Therefore, parliamentarians debated the text in April, but postponed the vote for three months. After this period, the initiative remains ‘shelved’, which is why operators expressed their indignation with the country’s legislature.
Association wants to end gaming monopoly
The infraction caused APOJA to take a strong stance, asking the newly elected government of Santiago Pena to reform Conajzar and end the monopoly on gaming concessions.
The amendments made by APOJA aim at a general change in the entity’s duties. The idea is to simply be a Paraguayan gaming supervision agency, without licensing duties.
The government was instructed to base itself on examples from South American countries, such as Colombia and Peru. The idea is to end monopoly concessions and promote a transparent market to raise tax resources for social projects.
APOJA President Lorena Rojas warned of the need to reform regulations before the current contract expires.
