Colombia’s playing regulator has launched a brand new framework to observe 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 units into the country beginning in 2026.
Authorities formalized the initiative by way of Resolution 8594 of 2025, which created the Single Registry of Importers and Distributors, generally known as the RIC. Officials anticipate the system to enhance transparency concerning how slot machines enter the market and the place they in the end function.
New Registration Requirement Targets Equipment Oversight
Importers and distributors could 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 way of an official on-line kind offered by the regulator. The guidelines additionally require corporations to report the vacation spot of every gaming machine inside 10 days after customs clearance.
According to the regulator, these steps will enable authorities to trace gaming gear extra successfully and restrict the chance that unlicensed operators purchase machines. The measure applies particularly to digital slot machines, identified domestically as METS.
Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez, president of the regulatory authority, described the registry as a vital improvement for the home gaming sector. “The creation of the RIC is fundamental to controlling the import and marketing of slot machines entering the country, and to stop the illegal activity that is so damaging to health revenues,” he acknowledged, as reported by Coljuegos.
Coordination with the National Directorate of Taxes and Customs will kind a part of the oversight course of. Officials anticipate this cooperation to make sure that all imported gaming gear stays traceable and correctly licensed, which in flip helps the allocation of gambling-related taxes to public providers.
Healthcare Funding And Market Scale Drive Regulation
Land-based playing continues to signify a significant supply of funding for Colombia’s backed healthcare system. During 2025, localized gaming actions transferred roughly COP378.3 billion, equal to round $104.8 million, to healthcare packages. This quantity represented 39% of the trade’s total income contributions.
The scale of the home slot machine market has influenced the regulatory method. Current figures point out about 109,000 licensed machines function in additional than 3,700 approved institutions nationwide. Imports of slot machines and associated elements 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 intention to forestall unlicensed operators from diverting income that may in any other case assist healthcare funding.
Changes affecting the land-based sector coincide with evolving coverage discussions round on-line playing taxation. A latest choice by Colombia’s Constitutional Court suspended Decree 1390, which launched a 19% value-added tax on gross gaming income from on-line playing. The court docket questioned whether or not circumstances justified the declaration of an financial emergency used to enact the measure.
As a results of the suspension, on-line operators at present stay topic to the present 15% tax on gross gaming income. Legal observers have steered the reinstatement of the extra tax might face political challenges, significantly throughout an election yr.
The introduction of the slot machine import registry subsequently varieties a part of a wider regulatory panorama during which authorities proceed to stability trade oversight, fiscal coverage, and public funding priorities. Officials anticipate the RIC system to enhance compliance whereas sustaining monetary flows that assist healthcare initiatives.
