The contract supervision has issued up to nine alerts on breaches related to the modification of the eighth prize category in the Revancha modality that, initially, obliged the ONJ to pay the bettors the total cost of the ticket; that is, 7,800 pesos.
However, thanks to an agreement between the operator and Coljuegos, which reported problems with the payment amounts established for the category. While the original contract signed on May 9, 2022, by the ONJ - made up of Grupo Empresarial en Línea (Gelsa S.A.) and Redcolsa Servicios S.A. - required payments of 7,800 pesos, only 2,100 pesos have been paid. The modification would have left a total of 18.7 billion pesos in prizes that would not have been delivered to the bettors, so the inspectorate began an investigation to determine those allegedly responsible for the non-compliance.
The modification was made through a resolution issued in January 2024 - Coljuegos credit
in addition, despite the warnings, the board of directors of Coljuegos, led by its president Marco Emilio Hincapié, chose to modify the prize agreement through agreement number 01 of January 26, 2024, reducing the prize for the eighth category to the 2,100 pesos that have been paid
“The only possibility of complying with the two conditions set out in agreement 03 of 2021 for the Revancha raffle prize plan, that is, a prize percentage for the first prize of 36.7440% and a minimum prize payment of $7,800, maintaining an accumulated prize of 50% is to eliminate category 8, precisely the category that generates the highest number of winners (81.60%)”, states the modification document issued in January of this year.
This decision, according to Coljuegos, was made to maintain the economic viability of the draw. Despite this, former Baloto operators and some firms that participated in the bidding for the contract have expressed their disagreement, arguing that such changes put previous participants at a disadvantage and could trigger lawsuits.
Yudy Esmeralda Esteban Campos in the signing of this agreement came to light, which has generated even more controversy.
The official, who worked at Gelsa S.A., one of the ONJ partner companies, and is the partner of a nephew of Hincapié, acted only as secretary in the resolution. Criticism points to a possible conflict of interest, while Coljuegos defends the legality of the process and assures that the official had no say in the decision. According to the ONJ, the modification was made to avoid the non-viability of gambling - To address the implications of these changes in the contract, the audit has already requested the evaluation of the possible patrimonial and economic damages caused by the breaches.
Meanwhile, a sanctioning process is ongoing to determine responsibilities. Finally, Coljuegos highlighted that this change in the prize table does not modify the contract signed during the government of Iván Duque, but rather an internal agreement, and that the health system has not lost resources due to these adjustments. The responses that the National Gaming Operator gave regarding the complaint, highlighting that, although there is a process in force to determine possible responsibilities in the change, the contributions to health are not calculated on the prizes given to the bettors, but on the total income from monthly sales.
“The first thing that must be clarified is that health resources are calculated based on the sales of the product, which is why the Colombian health system has not lost resources. On the contrary, to date the National Gaming Operator has transferred $111,498 million pesos since the start of the operation of the concession. Today we have more than 80 thousand connected terminals throughout the country, and we are introducing new mechanisms that allow us to reach new players, strengthening the Baloto brand and fulfilling each of the obligations of the contract," said the ONJ.
It also clarified that, so far, there are no sanctions against the operator and no ruling has been issued penalizing the modification, so they will continue to be attentive to requests from the supervisor and anyone who requires it to clarify the situation.
