Mundo Video (MV) contacted Elízabeth Maya Cano (EMC), president of Cornazar, León Darío Montoya (LDM), legal advisor of the Corporation and Jhon Mario Giraldo (JMG), president of the Gemial Board; to delve into its position regarding the discouragement of the businessmen of the game with the last pronouncement of Coljuegos.
MV: How would the measures contemplated in the NDP benefit the sector?
EMC: We hope that the new circular will trigger very positive results for the public economy with the increase of the concessions and the gambling elements authorized by the monopoly. We anticipate a promising management environment for the private economy with the expansion of the service portfolio, innovation, entrepreneurship and legality. This lifeguard that the Government launched is a win-win strategy in line with the global economy that was waiting with need the sector that plays with transparency for the health of Colombia.
We believe with confidence that the most effective missive against the illegal operation is the legal security that was issued for this four-year period. In addition, the budgetary relief of the tax burden would allow a better income flow so that businessmen can access cutting-edge technology that generates opportunities for growth and dynamism in the sector, as well as advancing social actions such as the promotion of responsible gambling and the application of the Corporate Social Responsibility policy that we intend to institutionalize.
However, the Circular issued on June 28 by the president of Coljuegos, Juan B. Pérez and released in the last hours, is a slap that breaks the gloomy silence that the entity had maintained since the presidential sanction of the National Plan of Developing. The businessmen of the game received with deep disappointment the pronouncement because it violates the viability of the concession contracts that hobble by the confiscatory rate that they pay as tribute. Also, from the operation of localized gambling games, we anticipate an unfortunate decrease in the sector to the detriment of the public and private economy.
Uncertainty, despair and overwhelm are the feelings that the Circular triggers.
MV: What is your opinion regarding the argument and legal basis embodied in the circular issued by Juan B. Pérez?
LDM: The argumentative and legal basis of the External Circular seems to me totally wrong, to say the least, and let's see why: to start it off by saying that in the clauses of the concession contracts for localized games are incorporated the laws and regulations in force at the time of signing the contract, which is not entirely true, since according to the same contracts what is understood to be incorporated are those laws and regulations "... and by the other standards that complement, clarify or modify the previous ones ..." for which I invite any operator to review their contracts where they will find a similar text that through the agreement of wills, which turns out to be "LAW" for the parties, made it clear that they incorporated the current laws, among them Law 643 of 2001 and 1393 of 2010, but at the same time others that modify those, and it was precisely what happened in this case.
For us, it is clear that, if COLJUEGOS EICE ignores such a clear legal mandate and that clearly requires immediate application, it is exposed to multiple risks such as nullity lawsuits, the administrative act's decay, compliance actions, claims and lawsuits. return, and even criminal and disciplinary complaints because, among other things, it is a cause of misconduct to apply a repealed rule or to refuse to apply a current standard.
MV: What is going to be the legal path that Cornazar is going to take to make the legal entrepreneurs of localized games access the benefits that the PND has for them?
LDM: Given this scenario, what is needed is to coordinate joint actions by all the operators in the country, guided by the trade associations and authorized voices to demand the application of the new tariff, but for no reason to remain silent and act as the entity It commands the fear of reprisals, which is the language that has often been taught to pronounce Coljuegos, as if there was no constitution and laws that protect the rights of employers.
MV: Since the operation of the localized game, Coljuegos was expected to provide the physical and technological tools to comply with Article 59 of the PND. How do you receive the instructions described in the circular that was known in the last hours?
It is painful to see the instruction of the regulator regarding a law of the Republic.
If we see the PND it is understood that with Article 59 what the National Government did was to make a forced landing in which all the risks are mitigated. With this new measure we are going to try to survive the operators that were staggering because of the confiscatory nature of the taxes giving a technological and social turnaround to our companies. The great beneficiary is the sector. Obviously when one is in an idyllic cloud and lands on a reality it is very complicated, but it is always better to be on solid ground.
MV: Do you consider that the position of Juan B. Pérez goes against the guidelines of the current government?
JMG: I think that in reality Juan B. goes against the PND. On a personal basis, in our company we are going to complete 20 years of operation and always, when there have been changes in the rules are applied immediately and without exception as was the case of the VAT increase to which with a yardstick of justice was applied to the new contracts and the old ones.
The regulatory body must reinvent itself by becoming more agile attacking illegality and stimulate the small operator who is the one who is owed market coverage because in reality large companies do not cover isolated sectors of large cities. The public collection increases as the offer does.
This eliminates the legal stability in the gambling industry in Colombia that had characterized it so much.
