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Peru’s deadline for approved online gambling operators to register their platforms and game providers and submit technical approvals has come and gone without any formal recognition from the regulator.
The gambling regulator within Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism (MINCETUR) confirmed in August that officials had finally finished the review and approval of all operator licence applications, which automatically kickstarted a 90-day countdown for licensees to submit various compliance paperwork.
However, at the SBC Summit Latinoamerica in Miami in late September, Yuri Guerra, the head of the General Directorate of Casino Games and Slot Machines, told the audience that the deadline for operators to present all their documentation had been extended again until December 31.
This has been par for the course for Peru’s regulation, which has witnessed several delays and missed deadlines since an online gambling law was first ratified by the government in 2022. The licensing period was initially due to end in April.
Nicolás Samohod Rivarola, a Lima-based gaming lawyer at Vidal Cáceres, previously told žž GamblingCompliance that the delays were a good thing, underlining the flexibility of the regulator.
Still, Rivarola noted that confirmation of the new compliance deadline has not yet been officially published.
“We are waiting for a formal communication from the regulator, normally they do so through a Circular Letter, but so far there is nothing published on the MINCETUR extranet,” he said.
At the SBC Summit, Guerra answered a question about what sanctions would apply on November 16, following the end of the transition period.
“We have already planned everything. We have already identified the informal pages,” said Guerra. “Up to now we have registered, for example, about 4,000 points of sale [for retail sports betting], but we know that there are 5,600 points of sale. We have already registered them. So, we are going to intervene.”
Samohod relayed that although the MINCETUR regulator is ready to begin finding violators, “I understand that unauthorised or illegal gambling, unauthorised websites, those that allow access to minors, etc. will be identified first”.
“The Peruvian regulator's policy is not to start pursuing formal operators that have some pending aspects to be regularised, approved, and/or formalised.”
Meanwhile, Peru’s nascent online gambling industry continues to grapple with September's legislative decree that will add a consumption tax of 1 percent of turnover specifically for players of licensed operators that are incorporated outside Peru.
The new tax has been called unconstitutional by both lawyers and operators, and concern remains as to how exactly it will be implemented.
Despite this, the regulator continues to insist that there has been a model regulation that will continue to evolve.
Guerra said: “We have mapped out and we are going to pass on to all of you the proposal and the matrix that MINCETUR is working on for changes; changes to make the activity more dynamic, changes so that Peru becomes a worldwide reference, which is what we all want in Peru.”
