Buenos Aires province is weighing two competing approaches to online gambling: a ban and a tighter regulatory regime. The first is a bill by senator Federico Fagioli nicknamed the 'Lula law'. It would repeal chapter VIII of law No. 15,079 and dismantle the province's licensing system. Sports betting, online slots, roulette, blackjack and poker would be prohibited. Lotteries and prize draws would remain. Licensed operators would be barred from taking new deposits and would have to return balances to customers. Advertising, bonuses and sponsorship would also be banned. No date has been set for a vote on the bill.
The push follows Brazil's decision a month earlier to ban regulated online betting, amid growing concern over underage gambling. Fagioli argues that gambling is now reachable from a smartphone, that earlier barriers have gone and that current rules do not cover the risk. Tomás García Botta, a partner at Argentine law firm MF Estudio Abogados, told NEXT.io the initiative should be taken seriously, though its prospects are unclear. He questioned the logic of a ban: 'In a context where the provinces need tax revenue, I find it hard to understand.' He also pointed to possible legal obstacles, including whether the measure is compatible with the provincial constitution, and warned that a ban would leave room for an unregulated sector, with no oversight, no safeguards and no tax collection.
The alternative: control, not prohibition
In parallel, the provincial Chamber of Deputies is merging 27 initiatives into a single 'mega-project', which it aims to move before the end of the legislative year. A committee set up in February is combining the texts. It has five priorities: identity checks, advertising restrictions, gambling limits, action against the illegal market, and funding for prevention and treatment.
Operators could be required to run biometric identification, including facial recognition checked against Argentina's National Registry of Persons (RENAPER), to keep minors out. The package envisages curbs on advertising aimed at children, mandatory self-exclusion tools and the ability to set spending and time limits. La Plata is proposing a dedicated prosecutor's office for illegal gambling, with powers to block sites and act on bank accounts used for unlawful betting. Operators could be obliged to contribute to funds for mental health, addiction prevention, community organisations and mass sport. Talks continue, with parties divided over funding and enforcement.
Gonzalo Atanasof, president of the provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos, said after a committee session on 19 October that 80% of gambling activity in Argentina is illegal. In his view, efforts should go into pursuing illegal gambling and into tools against foreign companies with unauthorised offers. García Botta links underage betting to illegal sites specifically and calls it the result of two decades of weak enforcement. He proposes blocking sites, cutting off payments and closing the accounts and wallets of illegal operators, and tackling the problem through criminal prosecution while the number of regulated operators with working responsible-gambling measures grows.
