The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on Monday announced a fresh reduction in the remittance rates for electronic games (e-Games) to encourage more investments in the online betting sector and convince illegal operators to register.
In a statement, the gaming regulator said the fee rate it collects from e-Games had been lowered to 30 percent from 35 percent starting Jan. 1 this year.
Likewise, the fees for betting platforms that are being run by integrated resorts were reduced to 25 percent to compensate for overhead expenses incurred by brick-and-mortar operators.
READ: Policy tweaks sought to boost PH e-games sector
The fee rates being collected by Pagcor are based on a fixed percentage of the licensees’ gross gaming revenues or GGR.
Pagcor Chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco said the rate cuts would provide operators with more resources for marketing, while helping prevent voluntary closures.
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“By lowering our share rates, Pagcor is creating a more favorable regulatory environment by encouraging unregistered online gaming operators to transition to the legal market,” Tengco said.
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Before the rate cuts started in 2023, Pagcor was collecting fees of over 50 percent of GGR from licensees which, the regulator said, deterred expansion in the gambling sector.
Tengco said the gradual reduction in rates had enabled the e-Games industry to surpass its P100-billion GGR target for the entire 2024 as early as September last year.
The Pagcor chief added that the more relaxed policy led to a “significant increase” in the number of licensed e-Games operators. The regulator has issued 1,188 licenses for various on-site and online gaming offerings “to date”, a 13.57-percent increase from 2023.
The number of accredited gaming service providers also increased five-fold to 174 in 2024.
“The gradual reduction of share rates has significantly contributed to the growth of the e-Games sector, which has become a key driver of the local gaming industry,” Tengco said.
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“We expect this trend to continue, and we are optimistic that the best is yet to come for the country’s e-Games sector,” he added. INQ
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