Colombia’s playing regulator has launched a brand new framework to watch the importation and distribution of digital slot machines, aiming to deal with criminal activity whereas safeguarding monetary contributions to public healthcare. The measure establishes a centralized registry that importers and distributors should be a part of earlier than bringing gaming gadgets into the nation beginning in 2026.
Authorities formalized the initiative by means of Decision 8594 of 2025, which created the Single Registry of Importers and Distributors, generally known as the RIC. Officers count on the system to enhance transparency relating to how slot machines enter the market and the place they finally function.
New Registration Requirement Targets Gear Oversight
Importers and distributors may have 45 calendar days from the publication of the decision on January 26, 2026, to enroll within the registry. Registration have to be accomplished by means of an official on-line kind supplied by the regulator. The foundations additionally require firms to report the vacation spot of every gaming machine inside 10 days after customs clearance.
In response to the regulator, these steps will permit authorities to trace gaming tools extra successfully and restrict the chance that unlicensed operators purchase machines. The measure applies particularly to digital slot machines, recognized domestically as METS.
Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez, president of the regulatory authority, described the registry as a mandatory improvement for the home gaming sector. “The creation of the RIC is prime to controlling the import and advertising of slot machines getting into the nation, and to cease the criminal activity that’s so damaging to well being revenues,” he said, as reported by Coljuegos.
Coordination with the Nationwide Directorate of Taxes and Customs will kind a part of the oversight course of. Officers count on this cooperation to make sure that all imported gaming tools stays traceable and correctly licensed, which in flip helps the allocation of gambling-related taxes to public companies.
Healthcare Funding And Market Scale Drive Regulation
Land-based playing continues to symbolize a significant supply of funding for Colombia’s sponsored healthcare system. Throughout 2025, localized gaming actions transferred roughly COP378.3 billion, equal to round $104.8 million, to healthcare applications. This quantity represented 39% of the trade’s general income contributions.
The size of the home slot machine market has influenced the regulatory strategy. Present figures point out about 109,000 licensed machines function in additional than 3,700 approved institutions nationwide. Imports of slot machines and associated parts exceeded $22.5 million in 2024, reflecting continued demand and reinforcing the case for tighter monitoring.
Authorities have emphasised that unlawful machines threaten each trade integrity and public funds. Stronger controls purpose to stop unlicensed operators from diverting income that may in any other case help healthcare funding.
Modifications affecting the land-based sector coincide with evolving coverage discussions round on-line playing taxation. A latest determination by Colombia’s Constitutional Courtroom suspended Decree 1390, which launched a 19% value-added tax on gross gaming income from on-line playing. The courtroom questioned whether or not circumstances justified the declaration of an financial emergency used to enact the measure.
Because of the suspension, on-line operators at present stay topic to the present 15% tax on gross gaming income. Authorized observers have urged the reinstatement of the extra tax could face political challenges, notably throughout an election yr.
The introduction of the slot machine import registry subsequently kinds a part of a wider regulatory panorama through which authorities proceed to stability trade oversight, fiscal coverage, and public funding priorities. Officers count on the RIC system to enhance compliance whereas sustaining monetary flows that help healthcare initiatives.
