Paraguay wants to fund its new regulator with 5% from gambling
The defining detail of the Paraguayan reform lies not in the name of the new agency, but in how it is funded. The bill creating the Dirección Nacional de Juegos de Azar plans to finance DINAJZAR with 5 percent of the revenue generated by racetracks, casinos, and nationwide games. It establishes a regulator self-funded by the very sector it is tasked with overseeing—a design that grants it independent resources outside the Treasury while simultaneously tying its budget to the growth of the industry it polices.
The initiative is listed on the preliminary agenda to be addressed by the Senate this week, according to the schedule released by the Senate itself and reported by local outlet La Tribuna, though it still depends on the Board of Directors finalizing the agenda before the ordinary session begins. The bill reached the Senate on October 12 and was referred to committee two days later, meaning its legislative review is still in an early stage.
The bill was submitted by the Executive Branch via the Ministry of Economy and Finance, spans 72 articles, and carries a clear institutional ambition: to create an autonomous agency that absorbs the functions of the Comisión Nacional de Juegos de Azar alongside regulatory powers currently held by the Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios. In other words, it does not merely replace CONAJZAR, but also consolidates powers that were previously divided between two separate bodies.
The second substantive decision lies in the concession model, moving in the opposite direction of an open market. The scope covers everything from land-based casinos to online bingo, including lotteries, quiniela, horse racing, sports betting, and online casino. For quiniela, the text allows a maximum of three concessions, and another three for sports betting, awarded via public tender for specific activities. Paraguay has thus opted for a limited-license market—a different path from the open licensing models chosen by Brazil, with paid authorizations, or Peru, with its permit-based regime.
In terms of enforcement, the new directorate would be empowered to inspect land-based venues as well as digital platforms, request documentation, and issue closures, fines, suspensions, and even license revocations, equipped with specific tools to crack down on unlicensed platforms. This digital oversight is where the new authority is most concentrated; until now, monitoring the online channel was the weakest link in the Paraguayan framework.
The player protection chapter brings together rules on advertising, self-exclusion, access barriers for minors, and identity verification, alongside anti-money laundering obligations. This represents the regulatory playbook that has become standard across the region over the past year, aligning Paraguay with requirements recently put forward for consultation in Peru and under debate in the Province of Buenos Aires' own bill.
The transition has been structured in the least disruptive manner possible. Currently granted concessions or authorizations would remain valid until their respective expiration dates under the proposed framework, ensuring that the change in regulatory authority does not disrupt active contracts. This safeguard is precisely what the Brazilian industry is currently seeking through legal challenges after a provisional measure suspended licenses that had already been paid for, demonstrating that Paraguayan lawmakers have learned from their neighbor's pitfalls.
The Comisión Nacional de Juegos de Azar is the body that currently regulates gambling in Paraguay, overseeing lotteries, quiniela, casinos, sports betting, and bingo, while the Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios is the Paraguayan tax authority, which handles tax collection and supervisory functions that the bill proposes to redistribute. DINAJZAR would be established as an autonomous body—meaning it would possess its own assets and administration—within the state's sphere.
Tags: Paraguay, DINAJZAR, CONAJZAR, regulation