Coljuegos responded to the casinos operators and guilds proposals sent to support the gambling operators located under File Number 20211200062601, taking into account the effects generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, in the various gambling modalities.
READ HERE: WHAT WAS ASKED TO COLJUEGOS BY THE GUILDS
In this way then, Coljuegos, established that they as body regulator has done as much as a possible to help the industry and the dates or time-lapse of the benefits given to the casino industry cannot be moved or extended, since the legal framework of the country proposed the benefits with the longest time possible.
With this being said, one of the most critical points of the Coljuegos plan was everything related to the reliability conditions of the slots machines. Conditions that were asked by the guilds and casinos to be postponed because it was not the right time for them to be issued, if the reality of the sector is evaluated.
However, Coljuegos, assures that these conditions are with the objective of achieving compliance with international standards in the medium term. Necessary to standardize the minimum technical characteristics that the machines must have.
Therefore, its implementation in accordance with the entity is expected to be gradual, since the project that modified Decree 1068 of 2015 is currently in process at the Ministry of Finance.
The other benefit that operators can keep receiving is the possibility of reducing the gambling elements of the Concession contracts of the localized operators throughout 2021.
As the ANDJE (National Agency for Legal Defense of the State) established that the COVID-19 pandemic, “constitutes a supervening, extraordinary and exogenous event that has significantly affected the economic and social life of the country and which has forced the adoption of decisions that affect the execution of the contracts."
This is a benefit that allows operators to adapt selective isolation measures and biosafety protocols, where the capacity of the players and the amount of time they spend in the premises is substantially reduced. Well, in many municipalities or localities, casinos still cannot open 24 hours a day due to measures such as curfew.
In order to operators can then access this benefit, must first request the restoration of the gambling elements to the previous state, within the 15 business days prior to the expiration of the 6 months of the benefit of reduction.
But regarding the reduction of the fixed rate for gambling tables and bingo halls during 2021, Coljuegos does NOT have the powers to issue regulations with force of law.
Neither the monthly fee settled to the gambling elements or the payment facilities will keep up for the rest of 2021.
The operators and guilds have already told to the entity this is not the time to be strict or have new game rules for the de industry, for them this will end with the operators that still struggle to survive and keep up their casinos after the closures last year, as the current situation of selective isolation measures that in effect have helped to have greater flexibility in the economy but have not managed to solve the blow received by businessmen in recent months, especially casino operators.
The health emergence is very possible to continues for the rest of the year, which gives the presence of strict quarantines on weekends in the majority of municipalities in our country decreasing the possibility of generating income during the days with the highest player traffic for the sector.
