Buenos Aires lawmakers move four online betting and gambling addiction bills to a dedicated committee

Lawmakers in Buenos Aires province have shifted four bills on online betting and problem gambling to a new committee focused specifically on gaming, lotteries, and addiction prevention. For PSPs, acquirers, and operators, the important part is not the paperwork shuffle itself, but the fact that the legislature is now bundling identity checks, payment restrictions, ad rules, and platform safeguards into one formal review track.

1. During the latest session, Buenos Aires provincial deputies changed the committee referral for four bills related to the prevention of gambling addiction and the regulation of online betting. The files were previously under the Committee on Addiction Prevention and will now go to the Committee on Games of Chance, Lottery, and Prevention of Gambling Addiction.
2. The new committee was created this year to centralize bills linked to the sector. It is chaired by Deputy Micaela Olivetto and began formal work in July, with proposals from different political blocs now being reviewed under the same umbrella.
3. One recovered bill, originally introduced by former deputy Abigail Gómez, seeks changes to Law 15.131, which covers prevention and assistance measures for compulsive, problematic, or pathological gambling. The text would strengthen controls to stop minors under 18 from accessing virtual betting platforms through identity and age verification systems run by operators.
4. The same proposal also targets the payment layer: it would restrict the use of financial accounts and virtual wallets belonging to minors for payments sent to betting platforms. It adds prevention measures and awareness campaigns aimed at children, teenagers, parents, and guardians, along with educational content on the risks of online betting.
5. Two other bills, introduced by former Radical deputy Nazarena Mesías, focus on gambling advertising and in-platform protection tools. One would impose restrictions on online betting ads, including limits on certain promotions and on the use of influencers and streamers to promote operators, while also setting limits on the duration and broadcast hours of certain ads and requiring media and advertising services to verify that operators are authorized before running campaigns.

The fourth proposal, also part of the package, adds periodic alerts inside platforms. The detail matters because this is the sort of rule set that can end up affecting onboarding, KYC, payment controls, marketing approvals, and the design of responsible-gaming flows all at once.