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Colombia online gaming: the Coljuegos concession contract explained
Colombia was the first Latin American country to open a regulated online casino and betting market, back in 2016. What operators call a "Coljuegos licence" is legally a concession contract with the state monopoly administrator. This guide walks through the law, the money, the paperwork and the technical checks, as they stood when we reviewed them in September 2026.
A contract with the state, not a permit
In Colombia, games of chance are a state revenue monopoly, so a private company cannot simply be licensed to run them. It signs a concession contract with Coljuegos, the state enterprise that administers the monopoly, and pays the state a share of its revenue for the right to operate.
That distinction shapes everything else. Coljuegos is regulator and commercial counterparty at once: it sets the rules of each game, approves the platform, collects the exploitation rights and can terminate the contract for breach. Online casino, sports betting, virtual sports and online bingo all sit inside one legal category, the juegos novedosos ("novel games"), operated over the internet.
- Regulator: Coljuegos (Empresa Industrial y Comercial del Estado administradora del monopolio rentístico de los juegos de suerte y azar).
- Instrument: concession contract for internet-operated games, one contract per operator covering its web domain.
- Term: between three and five years under the concession rules, renewable through a new contract.
- Market opened: the first online contracts were signed in 2017, after the 2016 game regulation took effect.
The legal chain behind an online concession
Four layers matter: the monopoly law of 2001, the 2015 development-plan law that brought online gaming into it, the regulatory decree, and the Coljuegos rulebook of 2016 with its later technical resolutions. Operators mostly live in the last two layers day to day.
Main Colombian texts for online casino and betting
| Instrument | Year | What it does for online operators |
|---|---|---|
| Ley 643 | 2001 | Creates the legal regime of the games-of-chance monopoly and the concession model; defines exploitation rights and administration costs. |
| Ley 1753 (National Development Plan), art. 93 | 2015 | Classifies internet-operated games as novel games and sets the online exploitation right and the fixed annual payment. |
| Decreto 1494 | 2015 | Regulates internet-operated games under the monopoly framework. |
| Acuerdo 04 of the Consejo Nacional de Juegos de Suerte y Azar | 2016 | The game regulation for internet-operated games: player accounts, limits, self-exclusion, prizes, advertising. |
| Coljuegos Resolución 20161200025334 | 2016 | Requirements and guarantees to sign an online concession contract. |
| Coljuegos technical-requirements resolutions (latest overhaul in 2022) | 2016-2022 | Platform, data-reporting and certification requirements. |
What Coljuegos charges
The headline figure is a 15 % exploitation right on gross revenue minus prizes paid, per type of game, plus a fixed yearly payment of 811 legal monthly minimum wages. Because the minimum wage is reset every January, the fixed payment is re-priced each year in pesos.
Ley 643 adds administration expenses on top of the exploitation rights, and the operator carries the cost of its own guarantees and insurance. Corporate income tax and local taxes follow the ordinary Colombian rules for the company holding the contract.
Colombian online charges at a glance
| Charge | Published basis | Source (checked September 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Exploitation right | 15 % of gross income minus prizes paid, per game type | Ley 1753 of 2015, art. 93 |
| Fixed annual payment | 811 SMMLV, paid in the first 20 business days of each operating year | Ley 1753 of 2015, art. 93 |
| Administration expenses | 1 % of the exploitation rights | Ley 643 of 2001 |
| Contract guarantees | Compliance guarantee plus third-party civil liability policy | Coljuegos Resolución 20161200025334 of 2016 |
| Paid-up capital | Above 30 % of the contract value, shown on the chamber-of-commerce certificate | Coljuegos requirements for online concessions |
Coljuegos does not publish an all-in "licence price". The real bill depends on the contract value that Coljuegos calculates for your projected operation, which drives the guarantee amounts and the capital test.
The VAT episode: 2025 and 2026
Operators planning for Colombia should know that online gaming was hit twice by emergency VAT. In 2025 a 19 % VAT applied to player deposits; the 2026 attempt to tax gross gaming revenue was struck down. As of our September 2026 check, no VAT on online gaming was in force.
- February 2025: under a declared state of internal commotion, Decreto 175 of 2025 applied 19 % VAT to games of chance operated exclusively online, from 22 February to 31 December 2025. The base was the deposit divided by 1.19, so the player effectively funded the tax out of each top-up. Foreign platforms had to register and file with the DIAN.
- 29 December 2025: within an economic emergency, Decreto 1474 of 2025 proposed 19 % VAT for tax year 2026, this time on gross gaming revenue (bets minus prizes over each two-month period).
- January 2026: the Constitutional Court provisionally suspended the emergency declaration, which left Decreto 1474 without effect.
- April 2026: the Court declared Decreto 1474 unconstitutional. Any future gaming VAT would have to go through Congress.
Build your Colombian business case on the 15 % exploitation right and ordinary corporate tax, but keep a scenario with a Congress-approved VAT in the model. The topic returns with each budget cycle.
Getting from application to a live .co site
The route runs through incorporation, a Coljuegos application, technical certification, guarantees and contract signature. Timelines are not fixed by law; they depend largely on how complete the file is and how fast the platform passes certification.
- Set up the legal entity that will sign, with the paid-up capital Coljuegos requires, and appoint a legal representative in Colombia.
- Submit the application with corporate, financial and anti-money-laundering documents, the domain to be operated and the description of the games offered.
- Obtain technical certification of the platform and games from a testing laboratory recognised by Coljuegos. The certification is valid for 12 months and must be renewed each year of the contract.
- Connect the platform to Coljuegos reporting so the regulator receives transaction and game data in the format of the technical requirements.
- Issue the guarantees and the civil liability policy, sign the concession contract, then launch on the approved domain.
Player-side rules come from Acuerdo 04 of 2016: verified accounts for adults only, deposit and loss limits, self-exclusion, and clear bonus terms. Coljuegos also orders the blocking of websites that take Colombian bets outside a concession, so a clean, approved domain is part of the product.
Game content under a Coljuegos contract
Every game you expose to Colombian players has to fit the approved platform and carry valid technical certification. In practice that means casino titles and live tables certified by a laboratory Coljuegos recognises (GLI, BMM Testlabs, iTech Labs and eCOGRA are the names operators usually meet), with RNG and return-to-player documentation on file for renewal.
For the operator the practical questions are simple. Can each studio provide its certificate for Colombia? Can you hide a studio or a single game when a certificate lapses? Does the integration send the per-round data Coljuegos reporting needs? A casino game aggregator API answers most of this in one place: one integration and a seamless wallet, per-game metadata (category, studio, supported currencies, market) so the Colombian lobby can be filtered, a country parameter that respects studio restrictions, and a separate demo launch through getGameDemo so free-play never touches the real-money wallet.
Sports betting is part of most Colombian launches. If you want odds and settlement on the same wallet as the casino, a sportsbook API on the same integration avoids running two balances, and the live casino API covers dealer tables from studios such as Evolution, Ezugi or Pragmatic Play Live.
On currency: our native currencies include USD, EUR, BRL, MXN and ARS among others. For COP, the account runs in USD (or EUR) and the operator converts on its side; contact us for your currency. Catalogue and currencies change continuously; the live list is in the API, and the API documentation is public.
What operators ask about a Coljuegos concession
How much does a Coljuegos online licence cost in 2026?
There is no single published price. Coljuegos charges a 15 % exploitation right on gross revenue minus prizes, plus a fixed annual payment of 811 monthly minimum wages and 1 % administration expenses on the rights. Guarantees, insurance, certification and local set-up come on top.
Is a Coljuegos concession the same as a licence?
Functionally it is the authorisation to operate, but legally it is a concession contract with the monopoly administrator, lasting three to five years, not an administrative licence.
Is there VAT on online gambling in Colombia in 2026?
Not as of September 2026. The 19 % VAT on deposits applied only from 22 February to 31 December 2025. The 2026 version, Decreto 1474 of 2025, was suspended and then declared unconstitutional in April 2026.
Do casino games need certification in Colombia?
Yes. The platform and the games must be certified by a laboratory recognised by Coljuegos, and the certification is renewed every 12 months during the contract.
Can one Coljuegos contract cover casino and sports betting?
Yes. Internet-operated novel games include online casino, sports betting and virtual games, and the exploitation right is calculated per type of game.
Can I pay players in Colombian pesos through an aggregator?
Your cashier pays out in pesos. On the game side, COP accounts run in USD (or EUR) at the aggregator level and you convert on your side; ask us about your currency.
Sources and last update
The Colombian regime rests on statutes and on resolutions that Coljuegos updates. Figures below were checked against the texts and official or specialist reporting in September 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice; use local counsel for your file.
- Ley 643 of 2001, regime of the games-of-chance monopoly (Congreso de la República).
- Ley 1753 of 2015, National Development Plan, article 93 on internet-operated games.
- Decreto 1494 of 2015 and Acuerdo 04 of 2016 of the Consejo Nacional de Juegos de Suerte y Azar, game regulation for internet-operated games.
- Coljuegos Resolución 20161200025334 of 2016, requirements and guarantees for online concessions.
- Decreto 175 of 2025 (VAT on online gaming, 22 February to 31 December 2025) and DIAN guidance, as reported in February 2025.
- Decreto 1474 of 2025 and the Constitutional Court decisions of January and April 2026, as reported in April 2026.
Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.
Launching under a Coljuegos contract?
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