DR Senate discusses new Gambling Law
The Senate of the Dominican Republic continues to take firm steps toward the creation of a new regulatory framework for gambling. The Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Pedro Catrain (Samaná), met this Wednesday to deepen the analysis of the bill sent by the Executive Branch in June and to evaluate the observations submitted by multiple sector stakeholders.
During the meeting, Catrain and Senators Guillermo Lama (Bahoruco) and Alexis Victoria (María Trinidad Sánchez) reviewed the comparative matrix of the document and debated the considerations and central articles of the legislative proposal.
What the new bill proposes
The initiative establishes a comprehensive system for the authorization, oversight, and supervision of all activities related to gambling, whether in physical spaces, online platforms, virtual environments, or services provided through digital devices.
Among its main guidelines, the text requires that any natural or legal person operating gambling activities must have:
- Formal authorization granted according to the procedures established by law
- Uniform regulatory controls for both in-person and remote gambling
- Clear operating rules aimed at transparency and market regulation
After the session, the Finance Committee agreed to meet again to continue incorporating technical contributions and input from the private sector before moving forward with a possible report.
The position of the National Lottery
The push for the bill has also received support from key sector organizations. In a public message released in October on the occasion of the institutional anniversary, the administrator of the National Lottery, Teófilo “Quico” Tabar, defended the need for a profound reform.
Tabar stated that the sector requires “changing what has failed” and adopting new methodologies and regulations to put an end to the disorder that has characterized the market for decades.
“Doing the same thing that has been done for years, whose consequences were disorder and non-compliance, cannot be expected to yield different results,” he affirmed.
The administrator highlighted the support of President Luis Abinader and the Advisory Council, and urged industry stakeholders themselves to support the approval of the law, emphasizing that legitimacy and transparency are now an unavoidable urgency.
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