Dominican Republic revives gambling bill to curb betting shop expansion and tighten online controls

The Senate of the Dominican Republic has restarted a gambling bill that would cap the growth of betting shops, sharpen penalties for illegal operators, and bring online gaming under a 10 % gross sales tax. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks touching this market, the point is simple: the compliance perimeter is getting more explicit, and the enforcement tools are getting sharper.

1. The Senate, through the Finance Commission chaired by Senator Pedro Catrain, will begin reviewing the bill again next week after the initiative was stalled in the previous legislative session. The bill was originally submitted by the Executive Branch and had been paused after criticism from sectors tied to the industry.
2. One of the central measures is a 10-year suspension on issuing new licenses for lottery betting shops. The draft makes one exception: casinos that are part of new hotel projects would still be allowed to operate under the new framework.
3. The bill also toughens penalties for unauthorized gambling. Operating games of chance without a license could carry one to two years in prison, while more serious offenses — including the use of front men and the concealment of profits — could bring sentences of up to 10 years.
4. A new regulator, the Dirección General de Juegos de Azar (DGJA), would be created as an autonomous body with authority to regulate, supervise, and sanction gambling activity. In practice, that means the current setup would be replaced by a more centralized enforcement structure.
5. For online gaming, the bill introduces a 10 % tax on gross sales and gives the authorities power to block domains and IP addresses of platforms operating without authorization in the Dominican Republic. The draft also contemplates a Single Registration System, although the text available here cuts off before the full details.