The managers in charge of lotteries are seeking for the presentation of a project that seeks to reform Law 643 of 2001, which regulates traditional gambling in Colombia, which, according to the manager of the Boyacá Lottery and current president of Fedelco (Colombian Lotteries Federation), Héctor David Chaparro Chaparro (pictured).
"it urgently requires a change, due to its age and lack of updating in the face of market situations, in terms of competition, technological changes and the moment in which each company is."
For Chaparro, this law no longer responds to the needs of the sector that today behaves more like a "competitive market", open to new models and business opportunities.
It should be noted that the lotteries in the country generated resources of $ *760,000 COP million from 2012 to 2017, which were transferred to the health sector. In 2017, the lotteries registered the largest collection in the history of Coljuegos, which gave the health of Colombians $ *147,000 million COP, and the lottery business originates more than 20,000 jobs, many of them, to elderly people or in disability situation.
How is the presence of lotteries in the country?
Today, all lotteries can be played throughout Colombia. At the time it was regional, which was restated with the law. In addition, with the time passed, not only all lotteries are available in the country, but the number of games has increased, such as the “Super Astro Millonario” or the “Baloto”, which is important, because they generate more resources for health , and give new possibilities to the consumer and to the operators themselves, by being present in a competitive sector, where there are private and international players in the market.
It should also be noted that the country's lotteries operate through a chain of approximately 100 to 110 distributors located in the regions of the country, with whom it is working to enter the business dynamics of the business and allow them new spaces of action; that they have something different to offer, as well as for the sellers, with what they expand their possibilities of growth and income.
What changes are proposed to the Colombian Law on gambling?
They are looking for a reform of the lottery law, because the nature of the business has changed, that it no longer functions as a monopoly, and we need to look at the sector again. We have a competition in the hands of private and multinationals, an example of this is Baloto, and this is fine, because it has made the sector more competitive, and has allowed Colombians to bet more, and with that, that more resources come to the health and Colciencias, which is another important contribution that is made for research in the country. But in addition, we want to generate a leveling of the rules of the game in terms of reward plans, the expenses that can be made, and the way of regulating lotteries, around their operation.
How much did you receive in the last year for the lotteries?
The 30 percent of the resources obtained for each lottery weight goes to the health of Colombians. Last year, the lotteries delivered a total of 147,000 million COP to the health sector.
What happens with the “raspa y gana” in Colombia?
The instant lottery is a trillion dollar product in the world and in Colombia it has an important growth potential, of billions of pesos, but the lack of legislation or legislation that is a little confusing in the matter, does not allow an adequate exploitation of this product, taking into account that the lotteries have the operational and financial capacity, while the distributors have the logistic capacity to sell this product, thus generating more jobs and resources for health.
Could any of the national lotteries disappear?
A lottery, like any company, is established by companies. Let's say that after 3 years of loss, the lottery must be closed, but at the moment, there is no one in Colombia under this risk. What we do need is to compete, increase the offer in the game models. For example, we are focused on sports betting, which is something that has the country and Latin America as a benchmark.
*Exchange rate today 3223.95 COP x 1 USD
