The Dominican Republic is preparing one of the biggest restrictions on the expansion of its gambling industry, the gambling regulation bill establishes in Article 191 that, once the definitive registry of license holders is published, the state will not grant new licenses for certain gambling establishments for 10 years, while it cleans up a market with more than 71,000 registered lottery and sports betting shops. Casinos located in hotels and tourist areas would be exempt from the restriction.
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The initiative, originally promoted in the Senate by Pedro Catrain, senator for Samaná, was reviewed by the Permanent Finance Committee with observations from the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MHE) and the Directorate of Casinos and Gambling (DCJA). The Chamber of Deputies approved it on July 23, 2026, in two consecutive readings and with amendments, but it had to return to the Senate and expired before completing that process. La Vega deputy Rogelio Genao Lanza, who chaired the special committee in the lower house, called on Congress on August 30 to revive the bill.
Magín Díaz
The bill also proposes creating a new General Directorate of Gambling (DGJA) as a specialized regulator responsible for licensing, supervision, enforcement and sanctions. Until the new law is enacted, authority remains with the DCJA, which operates under the MHE, currently headed by Finance and Economy Minister Magín Díaz; the AML framework continues to rely on Law 155-17 on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.
Pedro Urrutia Sangiovanni
Article 190 extends the registration period for betting shops, points of sale, agencies and wagering operations covered by the regularization plan reactivated under Decree 197-26 of March 26, 2026, which repealed Decree 295-22 and seeks to complete the sector’s clean-up, validation and formalization process. The decree also strengthened the role of the General Directorate of Internal Revenue (DGII), headed since January by Pedro Urrutia Sangiovanni, in verifying tax obligations and provisionally incorporating establishments into the tax regime.
Article 192 would allow the regulator, together with the MHE and DGII, to establish discounts on overdue taxes and fees accumulated through December 2025, conditional on operators completing regularization. Existing licenses would retain renewal options subject to technical evaluation, while the future moratorium would close the expansion of new betting shops for a decade while keeping casino-hotel investment linked to tourism open.
