On Monday (10), SoloAzar published an interview with David Moniz, president of the Dominican Association of Casino Games (ADCJ), in which he advocated modernizing casino regulation in the Dominican Republic and asked that licenses have a minimum duration of 15 years, renewable for equal periods. The association is participating in the debate on the new Gambling Bill, which provides for the creation of the General Directorate of Games as the regulatory body and new controls on in-person and online operations.
For ADCJ, the reform represents an opportunity to strengthen supervision, ensure legal certainty and consolidate international standards in the sector. The casino industry is mainly integrated into hotel complexes and contributes to formal job creation, investment and economic activity, Moniz highlighted, recalling that the sector has incorporated money-laundering prevention mechanisms, independent audits and corporate governance in recent decades.
Independence and supervision
Moniz said the new regulatory authority must have technical independence, clear rules and effective inspection capacity. "The success of any regulatory body will depend not only on new legal powers, but on the uniform application of the rule, transparency and legal certainty for operators," he said. He advocated a supervision model based on technical criteria, with modern licensing and control processes to reduce informality and ensure fair competition.
Criticism of the moratorium and licenses
The association criticizes the proposal for a ten-year moratorium on new licenses for certain establishments, although there are exceptions for casinos located in hotels and tourist areas. It also questions the separation of licenses for table games and slot machines, arguing that both are part of an integrated casino operation. For ADCJ, fragmentation could create operational complexities and legal uncertainty in an activity that needs predictable rules to attract investment.
Regarding license duration, Moniz said the original text provided for five years and has already been extended to ten, but the association continues to advocate a minimum term of 15 years, renewable for equal periods. According to Moniz, this does not affect the State's police power, which retains the powers of supervision, sanction, suspension and revocation.
Rule compliance and taxation
The main challenge of the Dominican market, in the view of the ADCJ president, is not the lack of regulation, but the effective and uniform enforcement of existing rules. "For years, there has been uneven growth among gambling subsectors, creating spaces where informality and unfair competition affect those who operate within the law," he said. For him, when rules are modern and proportionate, formalization increases and the State's revenue-raising capacity improves.
ADCJ also calls for a review of technical points in the bill before its approval, including the definition of the tax base. The text adopts the gross gaming revenue (GGR) criterion for some modalities, such as internet gaming, but provides a different methodology for other activities, calculating the tax on the total amount wagered without deducting prizes. The association warns that this difference could lead to contradictory interpretations, administrative difficulties and tax distortions.
The association also questions exclusive operating-hour restrictions for casinos, because these establishments are part of the permanent entertainment offering of hotel complexes and serve an international tourism demand that does not follow traditional retail hours.
Industry priorities
Moniz listed four priorities for the new regulatory stage: legal certainty and stability; supervision with technical and homogeneous criteria; formalization with a modern and competitive regulatory framework; and standards of user protection, money-laundering prevention and responsible gambling. For ADCJ, the new law must balance the public interest with economic development, encourage voluntary compliance and allow the sector to continue contributing to tourism, formal employment and public finances.
