Coljuegos announces relief for operators affected by the earthquake
Coljuegos announced temporary and exceptional measures for concessionaires and operators of games of luck and chance affected by the earthquake on August 10, with the purpose of facilitating the industry's recovery. The measures, defined by a resolution, apply to operators, establishments, points of sale, terminals, and elements that demonstrate a direct impact related to the seismic event, with the clarification that a decrease in sales, by itself, does not constitute a reason to access the relief measures.
For localized games, the regulator enabled mechanisms to facilitate the relocation and replacement of affected elements, including express or automatic transfers from damaged establishments to other authorized premises, the possibility of temporarily maintaining an establishment as a zero-status premises without losing its authorization or contractual non-compliance, a four-month period to replace or complete the minimum number of damaged or lost elements, extendable once, and the streamlining of procedures to authorize new establishments and replacement elements when premises have been destroyed. For games operated online, the entity will maintain the current transmission, reporting, declaration, liquidation, and payment schedules as a general rule, given that these operations have centralized platforms, although it may evaluate exceptional requests individually when the operator demonstrates a direct and material link between the inability to comply and the earthquake.
In the case of Baloto, Súper Astro, and KENO, the measures respond to the impacts that points and terminals may have suffered as a direct consequence of the emergency, with the possibility of temporarily excluding accredited unavailability from certain contractual indicators, rescheduling visits, tests, replacements, and deployment schedules, and accepting subsequent consolidated reports or the subsequent regularization of files and end-of-day closures. Regarding raffles, the regulator will give priority to requests to modify the date, place, commercialization period, or operational mechanism of the draw when the framework allows it, preserving the rights of those who validly acquired their participations, and for promotional games, requests based on the emergency will be prioritized.
The entity emphasized that these measures do not imply condonation, refund, or waiver of the collection of exploitation rights and administration expenses allocated to health, and that the relief measures are temporary and will be subject to the accreditation of the impact and the entity's monitoring and control mechanisms. The decision is part of the sector's response to the emergency, which also included a solidarity campaign promoted by the Colombian Federation of Gaming Entrepreneurs to mobilize contributions in favor of those affected.
Tags: Coljuegos, Earthquake relief in Colombia, Land-based games, Fecoljuegos, Licenses