Dominican Republic

Law 86-26, promulgated 22 September 2026 and gazetted 2 October 2026 as Gaceta Oficial No. 11263, replaces the framework built on the 1964 Law 351 and consolidates casinos, lottery banks, horse-racing agencies, slot halls, bingo and internet betting under one statute. The new regulator, the Dirección General de Juegos de Azar, is an autonomous authority under the Ministry of Finance and Economy, overseen by a newly created multi-sectoral Council of Games of Chance, replacing the former Dirección de Casinos y Juegos de Azar. The market is in a structural transition: the primary statute is fully in force, but the implementing regulations that would make its licensing, fee and certification provisions operational have not yet been published. As a civil-law jurisdiction, the Dominican Republic's gambling regime now rests on the classic statutory stack of an enabling Act awaiting its implementing decree, with the Council's own internal regulations forming a further layer.

Law 86-26 fixes licence terms directly in primary legislation rather than leaving them to regulation. Article 47 sets casino licences at ten years, available only to establishments located within four-star-or-higher-rated hotels. Lottery bank licences move from two to five years, while casinos remain at ten. Internet gambling, under Articles 75 to 77, requires a ten-year operating licence restricted to duly authorised legal persons, with rates and conditions to be set via decisions of the Council of Games of Chance. The law expressly extends its authorisation and supervisory scope to businesses providing technological, logistical or manufacturing support to the industry, bringing B2B suppliers formally within the licensing perimeter. The issuing authority throughout is the new Dirección General de Juegos de Azar, an autonomous authority under the Ministry of Finance and Economy. What remains outstanding is the detailed conditions package: application fees and fit-and-proper criteria are expected from the President's implementing regulations, due within ninety days of promulgation, and the Council's internal regulations, due within a further one hundred twenty days.

Entry requires a Dominican legal entity registered in the Registro Mercantil and the RNC/DGII. Online entrants pursue a Res. 136-2024 licence (high fee, domestic hosting); land-based entrants apply via the Comisión de Casinos with bond and tax clearance. Advisory ecosystem is available in Santo Domingo (Pellerano & Herrera, Guzmán Ariza).

Online licence fees under Resolution 136-2024 are material: online casino ~USD 346,000 and online sports betting ~USD 260,000, plus a third 'other applications' licence. Land-based casino entry involves administrative tariffs, a surety bond and DGII clearance, with fixed per-table operation taxes keyed to geographic category.

Gambling advertising in the DR has historically been lightly regulated, with bancas and casinos advertising across TV, radio and digital channels. Resolution 184-2026 introduces responsible-gambling messaging and minor-protection constraints, signalling a tightening trajectory, but no comprehensive watershed/bonus regime is yet in force.

Article 75 of Law 86-26 restricts internet gambling to duly licensed legal persons, and requires the DGJA to maintain and publish two lists: authorised internet-gambling operators, and blocked platforms. This statutory blocking-list mechanism is now in force, though the DGJA has not yet published either list. A related report indicates that unauthorised foreign gambling platforms can be blocked and that related bank transfers can be frozen, extending the distribution-control regime into the payment layer for any platform operating outside the authorised .do domain structure. Until the DGJA's lists are published, operators and distributors cannot yet verify authorisation status against an official register, leaving the practical operation of the blocking mechanism dependent on forthcoming regulatory publication.

The DR is in an active formalisation cycle. Three reform vectors are live: Resolution 136-2024 bedding-in, the Decreto 197-26 National Regularisation Plan (in force 26 March 2026), and President Abinader's bill to create a unified Dirección General de Juegos de Azar (DGJA), backed by the National Lottery Advisory Council. The direction is consolidating and tightening, with positive long-run market-structure implications but near-term transition risk.