It is expected that five committees will achieve two opinions in the Lower House next Wednesday, November 13.
Argentina.- This week is key for the advancement of projects aimed at preventing problematic gambling among youth through the regulation of advertising, access control to sites, and eradicating the proliferation of illegal sites. Five committees of the National Congress's Chamber of Deputies will meet next Wednesday, November 13, to issue an opinion after the treatment was postponed last week.
On Wednesday, a plenary session of the committees on Addiction Prevention and Narcotics Control, Social Action and Public Health, Communications and Informatics, Penal Legislation, and Families, Childhood and Youth will take place, where the projects on the topic will be analyzed. Two opinions are expected to be issued on two projects that unify criteria.
Mónica Frade, president of the Addiction Prevention committee and deputy of the Civic Coalition, said: "I hope it is addressed in the chamber before November 30." With the certainty that the Government does not plan to extend the ordinary sessions, Frade admitted that time is pressing and there are only a few weeks left for the project to advance. If not realized, the opinions will be approved, but for the next parliamentary year.
From the Addiction Prevention committee they had initially called the plenary of committees for last Thursday, but the meeting was canceled after Laura Rodríguez Machado (PRO), president of Penal Legislation, and Roxana Reyes (UCR), from the Families committee, requested more time to analyze the projects.
One of them, promoted by the Civic Coalition and supported by Union for the Homeland and other opposition sectors, seeks to strictly limit the promotion and operability of online gambling. PRO and La Libertad Avanza, on the other hand, will sign a more flexible opinion, inspired by a proposal from Silvana Giudici.
The first of the projects, based on the text by Maximiliano Ferraro, presents a broad approach to regulate online betting. Among its proposals, it highlights the prohibition of gambling advertising in public media, social networks, and sports events, allowing it only in physical gaming spaces like casinos and bingos. It also proposes that only platforms with legal domicile in Argentina can operate, limiting payments to debit cards with withdrawal caps similar to those of ATMs.
Another key aspect of the project is the biometric identification of users to prevent minors' access, using the RENAPER facial recognition system to verify the identity of each player when logging in.
Furthermore, the regulation suggests that platforms promote responsible gambling practices, such as access to information about bets made, the possibility of self-exclusion, time and money limits, and alert mechanisms. It also proposes the creation of a national voluntary self-exclusion registry, allowing those facing gambling issues to limit their access to betting for a period of up to 24 months. Families will be able to request the inclusion of a family member in the registry, always with the consent of the person in question.
The project establishes sanctions and fines for those who do not comply with the regulations, increasing the penalties of article 301 of the Penal Code, with sentences of 3 to 10 years in prison for offenders.
On the other hand, the initiative by Silvana Giudici, which has the support of the ruling party, presents certain similar points, but is less restrictive. Among the most outstanding points of the proposal are the following:
