parlours and twenty five casino gaming rooms. Consequently, the market is still not saturated. What the investor has to do is find the right place for new projects. Tere are many cities in Peru where it can still be developed.
How about online gaming? Are there any plans for the government to allow for online casino type gaming?
When it comes to online casino gaming there is some confusion. In Peru, the provision of online games from abroad or from Peruvian territory is legal. Tere is no type of criminal or administrative liability if an offshore company offers its games to Peruvian residents. Te problem is that since it is not an activity that has a specific regulation, the provider has to establish a well-designed legal plan so that all the activities involved in the provision of internet games to Peruvian residents are carried out according to Peruvian law. For example, it is necessary to establish adequate processes for marketing services, payment processing, and customer services.
MINCETUR is interested in regulating this activity in a more detailed way but it is currently allowed. In addition it depends on how you want to plan your project because there really is no need for a law to regulate online games more specifically.
As I mentioned according to Peruvian law casino games are those games which MINCETUR qualifies as such. As a result if MINCETUR wanted the Director General of Casinos and Slot Machines could approve a directive stating that gaming via the internet and or sports betting
qualifies as casino games in which case only the owners of casino gaming rooms would be able to operate these games. But if it wants to regulate them in a more open way the most advisable way is to do it by means of a Congressional Law.
Do you think that the online market could be open to off shore operators?
Te market is already open to offshore operators. Currently there are many offshore operators offering their services to Peruvian residents. Tere are advantages and disadvantages of operating offshore. Companies have to assess which business model is most appropriate, whether to do so from abroad or from offshore. But I reiterate today one can offer gaming online to Peruvian residents in both forms
And now onto online sports betting. Do you think that online sports betting will be restricted to locally land based operators or will the market be opened up to offshore operators as well?
To date, online sports betting can be offered from abroad as well as from Peru. Tere is no restriction. If an Act is passed in Congress, companies will obviously have to obtain a license from the Peruvian authority to offer their games. In my opinion, if it were to be regulated by an Act, Peru should avoid mistakes such as in Colombian law, for example, and allow any independent registered person to play independently of the fact that they or are or not a Peruvian resident, establish a reasonable tax, allow the server to be in any place subject to the verification and control by the Peruvian authorities and so on.
And finally . . what is the potential size of the online gaming market?
It is very high. We are in an incipient market that has some barriers such as payment methods. But the first foreign operators that decided to offer their services to the Peruvian market have not stopped growing. Growth has no ceiling, the market is not saturated and demand is increasing rapidly. Be it offshore or from Peru, this sector will grow in the following years by leaps and bounds. I guarantee it.
Carlos Fonseca Sarmiento Mr Fonseca Sarmiento was a gaming regulator in Peru from 1995 and 2001 and is the author of the Book “Gambling and Betting. Technical and Legal Aspects"(Juegos de Azar y Apuesta. Aspectos Técnicos y Legales). He has a Masters degree in Public Administration and is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Gaming Law Review Journal for the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
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