The demonstration was to request progress in the processing of the gambling law, whose parliamentary procedure is currently stalled.
Paraguay.- Entrepreneurs from the gaming sector and lottery vendors held a protest day at the headquarters of the National Gambling Commission (Conajzar) to request that progress be made in the processing of the gambling law.
Alicia Gutiérrez, representative of the National Union of Lottery Sellers, Bingo, Gambling and Related Workers of Paraguay (Sintraquiba), expressed to the local newspaper ABC the concern among workers and entrepreneurs in the sector, because the monopoly established in the Law N° 1016/97 of the Gambling Regime has not yet been eliminated. The concession to a single company applies to the lottery and also to sports betting.
In the Chamber of Deputies, there is a bill that seeks to end the monopoly in the lottery and it has been attempted to be addressed on several occasions in recent months, although for various reasons, the parliamentary procedure continues to be stalled.
The spokesperson for the sector indicated that this situation affects them because, with no competition between companies, workers are subjected to the discretion of a single concessionaire. The concern intensifies because in a few months Conajzar will call for a new tender for this type of games, as at the end of next year the current contract expires and the call will be made in January.
Currently, the exclusive exploitation of the game throughout the country is in charge of the company TDP SA, owned by Álvaro Wasmosy Carrasco, whose award was in 2020 via Decree N° 4452.
Gutierrez indicated that during the pandemic, amid the crisis that was not only health-related but also economic, the company unilaterally decided to reduce the commission percentage of the brokers, from 25 to 20 percent. And since then, more than four years ago, it has not been reversed.
In recent months and especially in the last few weeks, the bill that modifies the Law N° 1016/97 of the Gambling Regime, to eliminate the gambling monopoly, an initiative of the deputy Adrián Vaesken, who argued that the current regulation is outdated. However, the ruling party has not supported the proposal.
Upon observing the protest, Carlos Liseras, head of Conajzar, came out to talk with the demonstrators and acknowledged that the required modification will happen «at any moment» and that the president of the nation, Santiago Peña, supports the initiative. However, Liseras was unable to provide further details on when progress will be made in addressing the issue.
See also: Gambling in Paraguay collected more than USD 14.3m between January and August of 2024
For her part, Lorena Rojas, from the Association of Gambling Operators (Apoja), recalled that last April, the Lower Chamber approved postponing the study of Vaesken's project for three months. That period has expired, but the project still does not advance in the legislative sphere.
