A Concordia ordinance, in the Argentinian province of Entre Ríos, designed to prevent and address problem online betting has remained unregulated more than a year after its unanimous approval.
Councilman Pablo Bovino, one of its sponsors, said the municipal executive had not contacted him to discuss implementing the measure.
The ordinance, titled the Program for the Prevention of Gambling Addiction in Digital Environments, was approved during the final ordinary session of the 2024 legislative period.
It was jointly promoted alongside Silvina Ovelar, from the ruling Juntos por Entre Ríos bloc. The official text establishes a 15-article framework intended to prevent, assist, educate and inform, with a particular focus on children and adolescents.
He said: “It is an ordinance that has been passed and promulgated, but it has not been regulated, and apparently time goes by and no public policy comes out of it.”
The original ordinance sets out a broader prevention framework than restrictions on access to betting websites.
The measure calls for educational activities in schools, cultural venues and sports institutions; the distribution of information about the risks of online gambling; teacher training on addiction and problematic consumption; and workshops involving professionals specializing in addiction and mental health.
It also provides for cooperation with civil society organizations working on prevention, detection and treatment, and is intended to operate throughout the year and promote alternative recreational, social, cultural and sporting activities.
Another provision calls for the municipal IT department to block online betting websites, gaming sites and other betting-related connections on public networks under municipal control.
It also requests that the Departmental Education Authority take the necessary steps to encourage schools to comply, and requires the executive to designate the program's implementing authority through the regulation and make the corresponding budget adjustments.
Bovino said the initiative emerged from visits to sports institutions and conversations with young people and their families. It was subsequently combined with a separate proposal from Ovelar before receiving unanimous support from the council.
Bovino said he did not believe the municipality supported online betting but argued that the delay had prevented the approved measures from becoming a comprehensive public policy. He reiterated his call for the ordinance to be regulated so that its provisions can be translated into sustained prevention, assistance and follow-up in Concordia.
Licensed online betting and gaming platforms in Entre Ríos include bplay, bplay Deportes, IAFAS Play, Tómbola and Quini Móvil
