Colombia’s gambling regulator, Coljuegos, has opened a consultation on the creation of a Preliminary Unique Identification Number, known as the Pre NUC, for electronic slot machines entering the country.
The draft resolution would establish the procedure for assigning the preliminary identifier and subsequently converting it into the existing Unique Coljuegos Number, or NUC. The permanent NUC is assigned to each machine authorized by the regulator and is used within operator inventories and reporting systems.
Comments on the proposal will be accepted from July 29 through July 31, with submissions closing at 6:00 pm. Coljuegos published the consultation as part of a broader effort to strengthen oversight between the importation, sale and eventual operation of gaming machines.
The proposed Pre NUC follows the launch of Colombia’s Unified Registry of Importers and Distributors, or RIC, which became mandatory for businesses importing or selling slot machines, gaming equipment, spare parts and components.
Under the RIC framework, importers must report the destination of equipment within 10 days of customs clearance. Coljuegos said the system is being coordinated with Colombia’s tax and customs authority, DIAN, allowing import records to be checked against the regulator’s equipment data.
Approximately 109,000 authorized electronic slot machines operate across more than 3,700 licensed establishments in Colombia. Imports of machines and related equipment exceeded $22.5m in 2024, according to figures previously published by Coljuegos.
The identification measures are also connected to the regulator’s enforcement strategy. Coljuegos reported seizing 3,047 unauthorized gaming items during 95 enforcement actions across 15 departments in 2025.
Localized gambling, which includes casinos and bingo venues, transferred COP378.27bn ($94.6m) to Colombia’s subsidized health system during 2025. This represented 39% of gambling-sector collections and an increase of 9.3% year-on-year.
Earlier this month, Colombia’s Contraloría General de la República gave Coljuegos a score of 4.93 out of five following audits of its 2024 and 2025 operations. The regulator also moved from a qualified accounting opinion to an unqualified opinion during the period.
Existing technical rules require machine reporting systems to transmit each unit’s NUC, digital identifier, manufacturer serial number and financial counters to Coljuegos
