After four consecutive calls dropped by lack of quorumthere is a session in the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition obtained the half-sanction of a project that seeks to legislate the online betting to implement policies against gambling addictionframing the initiative as a proposal for federal public health that transcends provincial administrations on games of chance.
With the accompaniment of Union for the Homeland, the Civic Coalition, Federal Meeting and Democracy Forever, were reached 139 votes affirmatives. On the other hand, the PRO and the UCR (59) They abstained and Freedom Advances (36) nay. The project will now go to a vote in the Senate.
On the initiative of Paula Penacca (Union for the Homeland)an initiative that aims to financially recognize family members of victims of the Cro-Magnon tragedywhich occurred on December 30, 2004, with 194 fatalities and 1,432 injuries. At the same time, the four-year extension of the period was approved to be able to carry out the expropriation of the premises where the fire occurred.
Among the different motions of privilege and departures from previous regulations, the repeal of DNU 70/2023which continues to impact rental and credit card regimes. The request for Vanina Biasi (FIT) It had 113 accompaniments and 100 votes against, in addition to 11 abstentions. By requiring a special majority, the proposal was not finalized.
During the debate over the law against gambling, Mónica Frade (Civic Coalition) -one of the main promoters of the project- pointed out that she is confronted “with a mega business that in Argentina has had an unusual development in recent years. We are going to provide a national framework inviting the provinces to adhere to this regulation.” “Imagine If we did not have an excess of regulation, this government would make this entire effort a dead letter.“, he considered and understood that it is “a national and federal mental health issue.”
For its part, Silvana Giudici (PRO)author of the minority opinion that proposes more lax regulations against online betting advertising, pointed out that majority legislation “is unenforceable” and that “the discussion became muddied, crossing issues of sports, health, education and technology.” “From Congress we have to respect the provincial autonomies“, he said when highlighting jurisdictional experiences against gambling addiction, and proposed that “this law has to contribute to the joint work of each jurisdiction and not block it or generate eternal indefinition.”
From Peronism, they pointed against the betting organizations lobbyand they celebrated that this had not distorted the execution of the session. “We thought there was going to be more lobbying and that everyone was going to use the rain as an excuse,” they told Ámbito from Union for the Homelandwhile since PRO They maintained that their opposition is “philosophical, because “It is the State getting involved in regulating the lives of adults, as if it could determine what they do with salt or cigarettes.”
Online betting: what the project says
The proposal you obtained majority opinion seeks prohibit the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of online gamblingof any kind, including those made by influencers, entertainment celebrities, athletes, sports institutions and posters in stadiums.
Also prohibits the possibility of betting to workers and managers of gambling and betting sites; athletes and coaches; those registered in self-exclusion regimes; those enrolled in the National Registry of Food Pension Debtorsamong other actors. In that framework, Sports Law No. 20,655 will be reformed to rule out the possibility of those directors, representatives or operators of online games of chance and betting joining elective lists of civil sports associations.
If it becomes law, advertising online betting and gambling It will be allowed only inside casinos, bingo halls, racetracks, other betting houses or lottery agencies. The impact would reach different private and civil society sectors and even Argentine soccer: both the Professional Soccer League and the 28% of the first division teams They have online casino advertising.
Maximiliano Ferraro
Mariano Fuchila
Another of the salient points of the project is that limits the means of payment to the use of debit cards with a limit equivalent to that allowed for withdrawals at ATMs, same limit that is authorized for virtual wallets. The granting of bonuses or deposit vouchers by betting houses is prohibited, as well as the use of credit systems and social assistance benefit cards.
Another major problem that the project seeks to stop is the access of minors to these platforms. In this way, it is proposed biometric identification of users at the beginning of each session and after a while of playing, using the database of the National Registry of Persons (RENAPER) to validate identity remotely, through facial recognition.
At the same time, online gaming platforms and systems are required to meet a series of security requirements. responsible betting that allow consumers to access true information about the practices in which they participate, their user history, time spent online, self-exclusion mechanisms, the possibility of establishing time and money limits and alerts, and help and assistance sections.
Another key aspect of the project is that it seeks to create a national voluntary self-exclusion registry. This will help the person who believes they have problems with gambling to self-exclude for up to 24 monthsand establishments and online platforms must enforce this prohibition. The project establishes sanctions of penalties and fines for non-compliance by the owners and third parties involved, among others. 3 to 10 years in prison.
Gambling statistics
According to a study by the Ombudsman’s Office of the Province of Buenos Aires, at least 12.5% of young people between 15 and 25 years old have bet online at some pointa figure that amounts to 15.5% among people between 25 and 34 years old. The study, anchored in the Buenos Aires territory, revealed that 10.1% of online gamblers play every day of the week, while 25.7% do it between two and six times and 19.2% once every seven days. The most chosen options for betting are linked to the football (41.2%), bingo (37%) and boxing (16.8%).
In this framework, a request for Change.org -with objectives similar to the bill, it exceeded 15,000 signatures with objectives. “Gambling addiction is a psychological disorder characterized by the compulsion to gamble. and significantly affects the personal, family, academic, work and economic life of those who suffer from it. As in any addiction, the gambler raises his own threshold of tolerance to the stimulus, which is why he feels that he needs more and more time and money in the game to avoid withdrawal symptoms,” they state in the request.
Complete bill
Source: Ambito
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