Uruguay gambling licence: no online licence

Ley 19.535 art. 244 declares online games of chance and bets illegal, except the Executive's contests forecasting international sports results and the specific authorisations the competent authority had granted up to the date of the law. No private online licence exists, and the DNLQ states that the only authorised betting platform is www.supermatch.com.uy.

• A licence from another jurisdiction does not help: the law declares online gambling not authorised by the State illegal whatever licence it holds elsewhere (Ley 19.535 art. 244; Decreto 366/017 arts. 1 and 8).
• After an investigation and a hearing, the DNLQ orders a site blocked. URSEC passes the order to all operators in the national market within 48 hours, and they must block within 48 hours of receiving it (Decreto 366/017 arts. 3-4). The DNLQ list held 1,730 blocked sites at 29 July 2026.
• Issuers of electronic payment means regulated by the BCU may not authorise payments for unauthorised online gambling or the collection of its prizes, since 1 April 2018 (Decreto 366/017 art. 1).
• No player sanction appears in the instruments cited; the player-side effect is that card payments to listed sites are blocked.

Laws that apply

• Ley 19.535 of 2017, arts. 244-245: online games of chance and bets are illegal, save the Executive's international sports-results forecast contests and the specific authorisations granted up to that date; art. 245 lets the Executive block sites and payments and ban advertising
• Decreto 366/017: DNLQ blocking orders, URSEC and Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU) duties, ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion, fines of UI 10,000 to UI 20,000,000
• Ley 17.453 art. 19 and Decreto 175/002: the DNLQ's sports-betting contests (Deporjuegos), run through the Quiniela agencies
• DNLQ Resolución 174/2013 (sports betting) and Resolución 015/2026 (identity verification, responsible-gambling link, minors, advertising)
• Decreto 286/019: regulation of the Quiniela game, including bets over the internet and apps
• Decreto 167/025: Impuesto a las Apuestas, 0.75% of each bet on electronic machines; Decreto-Ley 15.716: tax on the volume of bets
• Ley 19.574 (anti-money-laundering) and Decreto 379/018

Uruguay licenses no B2B or supplier class. No game developer, platform, aggregator, hosting, payment, identity or data vendor, affiliate or marketing agency needs a licence, registration or approval as such. What binds a supplier is what the authorised operator must meet.

• The technical gaming systems of the authorised operators must meet the conditions the DNLQ sets by resolution, and the design of the bet registers must be approved by the DNLQ before use (Decreto 286/019 art. 9). Bets are sent to the DNLQ in digitally signed, time-stamped files (arts. 12-13).
• Users who register on the authorised online platform from 9 January 2026 must be identity-verified by providers accredited before the State, and the Bancas must hold the World Lottery Association Level 4 responsible-gambling certification (Resolución 015/2026).
• The platform's home page must carry a "Juego Responsable" link with self-exclusion options and a helpline (Resolución 015/2026 point 6).
• No instrument cited sets a rule on server location or cloud hosting, and none recognises a foreign supplier licence. No register of suppliers or of certified games exists.
• A supplier may not rely on its own status to serve unauthorised operators: the service, its advertising and its payments are what the law bans, and a turnkey supplier cannot offer the game to players without the State's prior authorisation.

Gambling is taxed on bets, not on gross gaming revenue. The rate depends on the product.

• The entity that runs the game withholds and pays over the machine-bet tax monthly (Decreto 167/025 arts. 3-4, 7).
• No instrument cited states a specific gambling-tax rate for the DNLQ's online sports betting.
• Player prizes: a prize above UI 100,000 and at least 71 times the bet is taxable, and the organiser retains 12% of the taxable difference (Decreto 148/007 art. 44 ter). Prizes of bets already taxed by the machine-bet tax and Lotería Nacional prizes are exempt.
• Payments abroad for rights and technical services are withheld at source at 12%, or 25% where the recipient is in a low- or nil-tax country. No gambling-specific tax falls on supplier revenue.

Land-based casinos are obliged subjects under Ley 19.574 art. 13. The authorised online operator and the DNLQ's games are not listed among them.

• Casinos apply customer due diligence on operations above USD 3,000, identify beneficial owners at 15%, appoint a compliance officer and report suspicious transactions to the UIAF of the BCU, under SENACLAFT supervision (Ley 19.574; Decreto 379/018).
• Financial institutions and payment issuers under the BCU are obliged subjects under art. 12.

For a game studio, platform or other vendor. There is no licence to apply for.

1. 01

   Check the market

   Ley 19.535 art. 244 · Decreto 366/017 arts. 1, 8

   Online gambling is illegal except the State's own contests. Supermatch is the only authorised platform; do not supply any other online offer.

2. 02

   Contract with the authorised operator

   Decreto 286/019 · Res. 174/2013

   The offer is run by the Bancas de Cubierta Colectiva de Quinielas under the DNLQ. No supplier licence exists, so entry is by contract with the operator.

3. 03

   Meet the DNLQ's technical conditions

   Decreto 286/019 arts. 9, 12-13

   Bet-register design approved by the DNLQ before use, signed and time-stamped bet files, and the systems conditions the DNLQ sets by resolution.

4. 04

   Support the player-protection rules

   Res. 015/2026

   Identity verification by accredited providers, the "Juego Responsable" link with self-exclusion, and no access for minors.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 9 Nov 2026.