Dominican lottery shops denounce unlicensed foreign lotteries
The request comes from the tax-paying segment of the industry. Jesús Salvador Ventura, head of the lottery shops in Duarte province, reported that foreign draws are taking bets in the country without any licensing and called for greater oversight of gambling, arguing that this offer competes on an uneven playing field against local operators who do pay taxes and have their paperwork up to date.
The second focus of the complaint is on gaming equipment. Ventura warned that betting machines are operating in bars, coffee shops, and other commercial premises, claimed that seizures have already taken place, and urged venue owners to remove unlicensed machines on their own. The claim describes a different type of informality than that of online platforms: it is not a website operating from abroad, but physical hardware installed on the street, within reach of on-site inspections.
The most uncomfortable part of the complaint points inward at the official process itself. According to Ventura, irregularities have occurred for years in the opening and operation of establishments, and businesses started out as agencies while traditional retail shops remained stalled in finalizing their formalization. What he describes is regulatory arbitrage between categories: if two different classifications authorize the same activity under different requirements, the label becomes worth more than the activity itself.
The leader added two types of accusations: alleged corruption in the granting of permits and lawmakers who, according to him, hold interests in the business. He did not name specific officials or provide documentation to verify these allegations, leaving them in the realm of unproven public accusations, unlike the rest of his grievances, which describe observable situations on the street.
The timing explains why the complaint is emerging now. Decree 197-26, dated March 2026, reactivated the national plan intended to regularize lottery shops, agencies, points of sale, and other operators, aiming to complete the vetting of establishments that remained pending after the deadlines set in 2022. It marks four years of incomplete regularization, and the trade association is seizing the reopening of the process to establish its demands.
Expectations are pinned on a regulatory body that is still taking shape. Ventura is hopeful that the new Dirección General de Juegos de Azar, established by Law 86-26 and under the interim leadership of Teófilo Tabar Manzur since October 5, 2026, will address the issues raised. The complaint comes just eighteen days into his tenure and during the same week the agency submitted a provisional, conditional database of establishments enrolled in the plan to the tax administration, without disclosing how many venues are included. The sector is demanding effective enforcement from an authority that is still finalizing its own registry.
The Dirección General de Juegos de Azar is the body responsible for licensing and supervising casinos, lottery shops, sports betting shops, and slot machines in the Dominican Republic, operating under the Ministry of Finance. These betting shops constitute the most widespread retail gambling network in the Dominican Republic, with a presence in neighborhoods and towns across the country, and represent the segment where informality has historically been most concentrated—which is why the regularization plans were designed around them.
Tags: República Dominicana, lottery betting shops, illegal gambling, DGJA