Senators file substitute texts to ban private online betting platforms in Chile

The Chilean Senate received two substitute texts on 16 October 2026 proposing to ban private online betting platforms and reserve the activity for state bodies and lotteries. The authors are senators Diego Ibáñez and Gastón Saavedra, on one hand, and the President of the Senate Paulina Núñez on the other; the submission arrived after the Executive failed to file indications before the original 16 October deadline and now has until midday on 26 October to do so. Neither proposal has been voted on.

What the substitute texts propose

The Senate bulletin of indications dated 16 October 2026 lists 593 numbered indications for Boletín 14.838-03, compared with 576 presented in May; the Executive did not file indications on that date. The first substitute, signed by Diego Ibáñez (Frente Amplio) and Gastón Saavedra (Partido Socialista), proposes a ban on operating, offering or advertising any online betting platform that accepts bets from Chile, with the following explicit exceptions:

• Polla Chilena de Beneficencia

• Lotería de Concepción

• racetracks and casinos that operate under the current law

That text establishes penalties of 541 days to five years imprisonment and fines of 200 to 1,000 UTM (approximately $14,700 to $73,500) for offenders. It also orders that internet service providers, app stores and payment processors will have five days to block platforms notified by the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ). Platforms registered with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) could operate for up to 24 months, but without advertising.

The second substitute, signed by Senate President Paulina Núñez (Renovación Nacional), reserves online betting exclusively to Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción and states that casino and racetrack licenses do not extend to digital channels. Núñez’s proposed sanctioning regime includes:

• Five to ten years imprisonment and fines of 1,000 to 5,000 UTM for operating an unauthorized platform

• Up to 15 years imprisonment and fines of 10,000 UTM for admitting minors or evading blocks using new domains

• Fines for adults who knowingly bet on illegal platforms of 2 to 20 UTM if they do so three or more times within 90 days

Núñez also proposes mandatory closure of unauthorized operators 90 days after the rule is published and a judicial blocking mechanism: a judge of the Court of Appeals of San Miguel would order permanent blocks that platforms must execute within 48 hours and that could be extended to mirror sites.

“Online betting houses are not an innocent business,” Paulina Núñez said, adding that “the State cannot become a tax partner in a problem it has a duty to prevent,” according to G5noticias (our translations from Spanish).

Extended deadline and the Executive branch’s position

The Senate’s party committees extended the deadline for submitting indications until 12:00 on 26 October 2026, according to La Tercera. Interior Minister and government spokesman Claudio Alvarado told BioBioChile that "additional time" was needed to reach consensus. La Tercera reported the delay stemmed from a dispute between the General Secretariat of the Presidency (Segpres) and the four sponsoring ministries: Finance, Economy, Justice and Health; Segpres denied that account. The Senate record shows no new presidential indications in the 16 October bulletin.

Legislative process and judicial background

The original bill, Boletín 14.838-03, was introduced to Congress in March 2022 and was approved in general terms by the Senate on 13 August 2025 by 27 votes in favour, 3 against and 5 abstentions as a framework for a licensed market, taxation and player-protection measures. After the report from the Economy Committee it must go to the Finance Committee before being sent to the floor; the Senate register does not currently indicate urgency.

In parallel, internet blocking measures and other mechanisms have been applied administratively and judicially. After a Supreme Court ruling in 2025 in favour of Lotería de Concepción, the Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones (Subtel) ordered in September blocks of 42 domains and then 37 additional domains. Operators such as W&C N.V., which runs Latamwin and WinChile, and the operator of Epicbet filed lawsuits alleging that the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ) and Subtel exceeded court orders; according to G3 Newswire, none has obtained interim injunctions.

Fiscal impact and disputed timelines

The Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) told senators in September that 39 platforms were registered with the agency and that around $100 million in collection was expected in October 2026. The two proposals offer different transitional windows: Saavedra’s text would allow up to 24 months of limited operation for platforms registered with the SII, while Núñez’s text sets a 90-day closure for unauthorized operators.

Saavedra called the government’s earlier indications “extremely lax” and “permissive” and stated: “If there is no will to regulate, it is better to prohibit.” On 8 September 2026 Saavedra, together with senators Matías Walker and Ricardo Celis, had requested limited licences for locally established operators, a specific tax and declaration of beneficial owners, according to the Senate record.

What remains to be decided

The Executive has until 12:00 on 26 October 2026 to present its own text. That document will define the government’s position between the licensing framework approved in general terms in August 2025 and the substitutes that ban private platforms. Until then, the debate combines rules in legislative process, administrative blocks executed by Subtel and judicial claims brought by operators.