APAL defends online gambling regulation in Chile, rejects illegality
The Chilean Association of Online Betting Platforms (APAL) has come out in support of the bill seeking to regulate online gambling in Chile and flatly rejected the qualification of illegality weighing on the activity. The guild argues that the way to organize the market is by establishing a regulatory framework with licenses, tax obligations, and responsible gambling mechanisms, rather than prohibiting a sector that already operates with thousands of Chilean users.
The guild's spokesperson, Carlos Baeza, stated that regulation is the only realistic way to protect players, ensure market integrity, and increase state tax revenue. He recalled that there are applicable international standards and that comparative experience in the region shows that prohibition does not eliminate demand but rather pushes it towards operators without controls, without responsible gambling obligations, and without fund traceability.
Despite general support for the project, APAL raised objections to one of the sensitive points of the text under discussion: the tax burden, estimated at around 37.6 percent. According to the guild, a tax pressure of that magnitude can discourage the entry of formal operators, keep the parallel market attractive, and reduce the collection effect sought by regulation. The discussion on the effective rate is one of the central knots of the legislative process.
APAL's proposal comes in a context where Chilean courts have issued rulings against the current operation of the platforms, maintaining permanent tension between operators, regulatory authority, and the judiciary. For the guild, this gray area can only be resolved with a law that clearly distinguishes between authorized and illegal operators and provides the Superintendency with concrete oversight tools.
The debate in Chile is part of a broader trend in Latin America, where several countries are advancing in regulatory frameworks for online gaming. Brazil has already started its licensing regime, Peru consolidated its own, Colombia maintains a mature model, and Argentina is advancing jurisdiction by jurisdiction. The Chilean definition will set a relevant precedent for the rest of the region, especially regarding the balance between tax burden, the attractiveness of the regulated market, and the effective reduction of illegal offerings.
Tags: Chile, online betting Chile, APAL, online gambling regulation Chile