Dominican President urged to make national lottery the hero of gambling
The Dominican Republic will review proposals to apply sweeping changes to the governance of all gambling activities in the country.
A bill has been presented to Congress seeking to grant “new administrative autonomy” to the National Lottery, positioning the institution to become the leading agency promoting legal gambling in the Dominican Republic.
The proposal is backed by Senator Pedro Tineo, who argues that structural reforms will accelerate modernisation and deliver economic benefits aligned with the policy agenda of President Luis Abinader.
Following his re-election in 2024, Abinader pledged that the Moderno government would overhaul Dominican gambling laws and licensing frameworks as part of a wider economic reform mandate.
Tineo believes that structural changes should transform the National Lottery into a “decentralised state body”, granting it greater operational independence and broader regulatory authority.
Under the proposal, Lotería Dominicana would assume expanded responsibilities covering the supervision and inspection of gambling activities across the Dominican Republic.
The institution would oversee lottery outlets, sports betting venues, casinos, electronic gaming operations and other games of chance, centralising duties currently spread across multiple government bodies.
The bill forms part of a broader regulatory restructuring already underway under President Abinader’s administration.
Earlier this year, authorities reactivated the National Regularisation Plan for lottery shops, betting outlets and gambling operators through Decree 197-26, aiming to formalise a sector long challenged by fragmented oversight and unlicensed activity.
Alongside these reforms, the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII) has taken a larger compliance role to strengthen tax collection and improve enforcement standards.
The legislation also aligns with wider responsible gambling initiatives introduced by the Dominican government, including Resolution 184-2026, which established new responsible gambling standards and created a Central Self-Exclusion System – the first applied by a Caribbean nation.
In 2026 the Moderno government will prioritise the rollout and enforcement of its new licensing regime for gambling businesses in the coming months, as authorities move to formalise forthcoming approvals on AML, criminal checks and specific licensing conditions.
A new licensing regime for gambling is viewed as the principal pillar for the Moderno government to apply reforms for each gambling segment (casino,sports betting and online), whilst protecting the consumer and national economy from black market threats and liabilities.
https://lotterydaily.com/2026/05/21/regulation/dominican-lottery-champion/