Slots Colombia homologation. After two meetings between Coljuegos and Casinos operators, we had the opportunity to interview several of them to know their point of view.
We all asked two equal questions, and this is what they answered:
Mundo Video: How do you think this new approval will impact the industry? And especially to your casino?
Mercedes Acosta: The homologation really would end up finishing the medium and small sector, which is where we, the majority, are. then it would be fatal for the guild.
Mundo Video: Do you think that behind this homologation there are economic interests?
Mercedes Acosta: On behalf of Coljuegos no, I would believe that they would be trying to save themselves, and especially Juan B. Pérez since he did nothing when he was at the congress that did not defend this, since he thought it was not going to happen the National Development Plan. Upon the issue of the National Development Plan he says, " I have to do something to stop this issue." That is what I think.
Mundo Video: How do you think this new homologation will impact the industry? And especially to your casino?
Joan Vásquez: As discussed here at the meeting, the common denominator in all operators is that this approval virtually excludes 100% of the market.
Mundo Video: Do you think that behind this homologation there are economic interests?
Joan Vásquez: Well, it makes one think that, yes because it becomes a business for both laboratories and manufacturers, because in the end the one that ends up paying all the changes, and all the technological renovations that have to be done is The end customer of us operators.
Mundo Video: How do you think this new homologation will impact the industry? And especially to your casino?
Fidel Sánchez: We, being small operators, really there is nothing clear, so one is still in that uncertainty of "what should I do?", Here many interesting questions were heard, but one still remains in that " What I bought 5 years ago does it work? Doesn't it work for me?” For example, the machines that we acquired with you very recently, does it work? Doesn't it work? We are in that uncertainty, we do not know if this continues, or if this is over, or they want to get us out and they don't want to tell us straight ahead or we really have some future.
Mundo Video: Do you think that behind this homologation there are economic interests?
Fidel Sánchez: I would like to believe there is not, but they say how white it is, chicken puts it and fried it is eaten.
Mundo Video: How do you think this new homologation will impact the industry? And especially to your casino?
Carlos Quintero: That affects us a lot, because machines that we have not finished paying yet, no longer serve us, according to the points that are being demanded by the manufacturers who made that study or something, because none of the machines meets those requirements still.
Mundo Video: Do you think that behind this homologation there are economic interests?
Carlos Quintero: I do believe, I think there is a great economic interest of the manufacturers, because they are interested in us buying and buying machines. Wouldn't it be more logical to suddenly update games? And with the same machine it serves us.
But then they are interested in selling the machine, and as there are some companies that have already sold, for example, the Williams company no longer exists, the IGT either.
So those have another social reason, and they will not certify us, but they are still good machines that play them in the market and produce many times the same or better than a new machine.
Because I have a new machine that was worth $ 20,000 dollars and I have one that was worth $ 2,000 dollars years ago, and they produce me the same or even a little older because they are well known games.
So, I do believe that there is a lot of interest here, because by not applying the Development Plan, we want to get an approval. And to apply an approval requires years, especially when companies do not have money to invest, there have been occasions where they invest and have been bad, it is not enough to pay for the machines they buy.
Mundo Video: How do you think this new homologation will impact the industry? And especially to your casino?
Diana Moyano: Cost overruns, the industry is going through difficult periods of excessive tax collections, of all the economic and fiscal burden. Sales are not the best because the economy of the country is not the best, there is a very low growth and we hardly stand, and what does it generate? Cost overruns! Because it means that the machines, the old Chevrolet that we have running, that still give money we must change them for Mercedes Benz that are worth a lot and we must borrow terribly
Mundo Video: Do you think that behind this homologation there are economic interests?
Diana Moyano: I would expect no, hopefully not, but there are many things that one says, my God, what they want to achieve with this, there I leave the restlessness. Because one does not explain, the government should not be with any interest but the health of Colombians.
What manufacturers think
“It was briefly analyzed what it was that Coljuegos wanted in relation to this draft of technical requirements of the slots inquiring and drawing conclusions that really what they are going to do is a homologation for all the machinery in Colombia. But for the old machinery its approval is very difficult, and the certification of international laboratories should be considered so as not to have to carry out a study or analysis by the laboratories again in Colombia.
Coljuegos is not clear that it is reliability since for us as manufacturers it is the hardware and software of our machines and their protocols, but for them it is a whole that is very difficult to handle.
Even as the IGT representative in any country in the world put it together, the three things slots information and transmission”
The CEO of GAMBEE for Colombia said that: “In a purely personal point of view, following the PND Coljuegos accelerated the whole issue of approval to rely on this to question the reliability and make it very difficult for all operators to comply with a 100% with everything that Coljuegos is going to request to guarantee reliability and thus be able to cancel over 12%.
As I said at the meeting the most affected with all this is the operator since everything aims to put obstacles and demands that instead of benefiting it will affect the short and medium term small and medium operators”
Finally, Coljuegos did not agree to give interviews to our journalists present at the technical table, however, yesterday on the second and last day it was decided that all operators and associations should send to contactenos@coljuegos.gov.co all the observations that are have on the document of the technical requirements of reliability, before August 8 since on this date a second draft of this document must be published.
For the mails that are sent with the observations, the entity requested that as a subject of the mail specify “Mesa Tecnica Operadores”.
In addition, operators and Coljuegos agreed to examine the second draft at a technical table in conjunction with the manufacturers.
This new document will be addressed to the manufacturers, who are the ones who really must homologate their machines, and the operators are not in charge of this management, said Coljuegos.
