PAGCOR to cut revenue shares collected from online casinos

The head of the Philippine gambling regulator, Alejandro Tengco, has disclosed plans to lower the revenue that the nation’s online casinos bring in.

According to the Philippine Inquirer, the objective is to make internet casinos more competitive while also tackling the issue of illegal gambling.

The goal, according to Mr. Tengco, the operator of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR), is to lower revenue share from the previous rate of up to 50 percent to 30 to 32 percent by the next year. “It’s currently at 42.5 percent, and I’m aiming to reduce it to 37.5 percent by March [this year],” he said, perhaps hinting at more cutbacks that might come soon.

The motivation for the action, according to Mr. Tengco, is a desire to stop illegal gaming, which has intensified as a consequence of PAGCOR’s high license costs. His figures show that the agency loses more than PHP1 billion (US$17.8 million) a month to unlicensed online casinos, putting pressure on licensed gambling establishments.

Mr. Tengco said that the number of online casino closures decreased from six per month to one every two months after PAGCOR reduced its share of revenue from online casinos to 42.5%.

According to Mr. Tengco, electronically delivered gaming would contribute to PHP61.75 billion of the country’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2024, when it is expected to reach PHP336.38 billion. According to him, traditional forms are expected to dominate at casinos in the regulated commercial sector.

In the latter half of the year, PAGCOR plans to launch its online casino platform, casinofilipino.com.

Original story by: GGRAsia