Mexico’s gambling industry group has called for revising the Federal Law of Sweepstakes and Gaming to include online gambling.
The Association of Permit Holders, Operators, and Suppliers of the Entertainment and Gambling Industry in Mexico (AIEJA) told Yogonet that it has requested the government of Mexico to update the law, citing the fact that about 100 companies operate without any regulation nationally.
That law dates back to 1947 and has not been updated since.
The association reports that problem gambling affects 1.3 percent of all those that gamble and that Mexico has not followed the lead of other nations that have implemented self-exclusion buttons. This tends to make it difficult to identify those who have a potential for gambling addiction.
AIEJA President Miguel Ángel Ochoa Sánchez spoke at the III International Gaming Convention, reported Yogonet. He then called for updating the law and for implementing a single tax for gambling. He claimed that 60 percent of casinos operate outside of the law and generate $300 million in untaxed revenues.
Ochoa told Yogonet: “As you well know, in Mexico the regulation of online gambling is still insufficient. Of the 100 percent of the existing offer available online, we estimate that only 40 percent is considered legal, according to the current legal framework. In other words, it has a license linked to a licensee recognized by the regulator, which is the Mexican Ministry of the Interior.”
AIEJA divides sports books that operate in Mexico between those operating under the Ministry of the Interior, and operators who don’t have government licenses based in the U.K., Curacao, or Malta. Such outlaw sites don’t pay taxes or offer any consumer protections.
