Buenos Aires Province's gambling regulator has urged lawmakers to strengthen enforcement against illegal online betting as the lower house studies a wider bill on digital gambling and problem-gambling prevention. The request came during an informational committee hearing, not a vote, and the proposed changes have not been enacted.
Gonzalo Atanasof, president of the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos, appeared with senior legal, systems and gaming officials before the Chamber of Deputies' committee on gambling, lotteries and problem-gambling prevention. The regulator's official account says members from several government and opposition blocs attended and questioned the team about regulation, prevention and control.
Atanasof told the committee that IPLyC estimates 80 percent of online gambling in the province takes place through illegal sites. He said that activity is outside the regulator's direct supervision and is tracked mainly through cyber patrols and complaints. The 80 percent figure is the regulator president's estimate; the published material does not disclose a methodology that would allow it to be treated as an independently audited market measurement.
The contrast with the legal market is narrower and verifiable. IPLyC's public information page states that the province authorized seven online-gambling licenses under Law 15,079 and its implementing decree. It also tells consumers that authorized sites end in the .bet.ar domain and that gambling is prohibited for minors.
According to Infocielo's report on the hearing, the regulator's legal team asked legislators to update the tools available for investigations and asset preservation. The proposals discussed included a mechanism for identifying alleged offenders before final judgment, changes to the criminal provision covering unauthorized gambling and the inclusion of online gambling in Argentina's organized-crime investigation framework. Officials argued that current rules often reach payment intermediaries without exposing the people directing the networks.
The hearing also addressed identity checks and underage access. Atanasof said licensed operators must use biometric validation, sworn declarations and cross-checks with the national civil registry, while illegal platforms do not submit to those controls. Those safeguards apply to the authorized market and do not by themselves measure the scale of unlicensed activity.
The committee is examining an integral bill sponsored by deputies Facundo Tignanelli and Micaela Olivetto. Yogonet reports that advisers were expected to continue work on October 22. Any new investigative powers, advertising limits or funding provisions still depend on lawmakers agreeing on text and completing the provincial legislative process.
