Costa Rica as a licensing authority

Hey anyone at Casino.Guru. - you need to stop listing Costa Rica as a licensing authority. IT IS A DATA PROCESSING LICENCE - ONLINE GAMBLING IS ILLEGAL IN COSTA RICA.

Mark all of these casinos as "operating without a licence".

Ref: https://slotegrator.pro/analytical_articles/obtaining-a-gaming-license-in-costa-rica-in-2022/

Hello,

I moved your post here to keep the forum clean.

I think that you mix two things so I will try to explain:

Online Gambling may not be legal in Costa Rica (however I do not think this is correct) but it does not mean that this local company can't provide the licensing authority for online casinos. Casinos licensed under this regulator can operate elsewhere and accept players from other countries, but not players from Costa Rica.

Anyway, you should read the article more closely:

"As for online gambling, the story is somewhat different. According to the current interpretation of the law, online gambling takes place where the transactions between player and operators are processed rather than where the operator is based. This means that, while it isn’t possible to obtain a gambling license, the government tolerates the operation of online gambling businesses based in the country as long as their transactions aren’t processed by local banks and they don’t offer their services to Costa Rican residents."

It's not illegal to operate an online casino and accept players from Costa Rica, as far as I understand.

Anyway, thank you for your caution.

Okay let me explain. Firstly, you obviously DIDN'T READ THE ARTICLE THOROUGHLY.

Quote 1.: As there is no online gambling license, most Costa Rican operators acquire a data processing license and operate under the guise of call centres.

Operators have to register with the Costa Rican Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Economy, and apply for a data processing license in the municipality where their business is established (a physical presence is required). As these licenses are issued by municipalities — regional governments — rather than a central gambling authority, the requisites to obtain one may vary depending on the location.

They DON'T HAVE A LICENCE. They can OPERATE A CALL CENTRE AND PROCESS SENSITIVE INFORMATION. They PRETEND to be a CALL CENTRE.

Quote 2.: Furthermore, as the country lacks both a regulatory framework and a supervising authority, operators aren’t subject to the marketing and responsible gambling restrictions in place most elsewhere. It’s important to note that anti-money laundering regulations, on the other hand, are enforced.

THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT REGULATE ONLINE CASINOS. IF MONEY IS STOLEN THEY DON'T GET IN TROUBLE. THEY ARE A CALL CENTRE. THEY ARE NOT A CASINO.

For absolute Christ's sake you need to stop falsely listing Costa Rica as a licencing authority. If anything were to go wrong there is no government department with jurisdiction unless the casino commits identity theft because they have a licence to store and process personal and sensitive information by the relevant Costa Rican government municipality.

Do you get this.

They have a licence to process and store personal and sensitive information like card numbers, bank account details, money (process), identification and indentifying information.

Costa Rica does not regulate Online Gambling as it is illegal. In person betting (venues) is legal however - but this is regulated by a seperate authority and is NOT a data processing licence.

I not saying I'm correct but I got a different opinion 🙂, so I forwarded your messages + the article to our Reputation and Data Team. Anyway, it's not my place to debate on this topic I think.

If there is any issue, these guys will find it and adjust any information if necessary.

Thank you for your concern, I or anybody from the concerned teams will get back to you with the response.

Hello mrlazzaj.

We are currently working on improvements which will allow us to display much more info about the license and how to submit a complaint in case of trouble.

Basically, you are correct and we will make the proper change once the new system is online (it shouldn't take so long it is already in development)

Much appreciated.

I'm not saying to blacklist casinos just mark ones who operate solely within Costa Rica as operating without a licence.

Technically they aren't legal in all jurisdictions as most of them will require a reputable gambling specific licence.

No rush but thank you for making the changes.

Hi

i have some issues with eod code Srl which their website says Costa Rica gambling license. Their brand Spinsino is not in the casinoguru as well. Where should I get their license details to lodge my complaint. This casino sharing license with

megadice

coinkings

kritpy

luckyblock and more. Please update the license details about this brands.

Could you be more specific, please, and tell us about which casino you write here that you'd like to lodge a complaint?

Also, if you'd like our data team to add or even change something in the review of any casino on our website, please use this tab, which can be found on the bottom of each review, to inform them about it:



Hey there, I think it's good to up this topic. The confusion is big for readers, imo it shouldn't be listed as a licence either, only the company registration location (example https://casino.guru/true-luck-casino-review). Might be nice to highlight the difference.

It's barely a legal framework for the company not for the players. What's your most recent take on this ?

Hey there!

I may not have fully understood. To be sure, are you saying that True Luck Casino is the only one licensed under the Costa Rican license?

There are many others, yet I have a few insights about the rise of Costa Rica/ AOFA/Comoros/Anjouan as the license provider. The rise as a license provider began when Curaçao announced the new system and the time gap. The government confirmed the final deadline for the sub-licensing system, so it was predictable that operators would search for easy-to-go alternatives to be licensed until the new Curaçao licensing system takes place.

Not every operator wanted to be considered unlicensed, so they easily switched to Costa Rica. Fair to say its quality, in my opinion, reflects the purpose. It is still, in many aspects, merely a list— nothing more, at least for me.

No I mean as Costa Rica does not provide a legal framework for this, this "Costa Rican license" is simply a company registration location as any other, at most only enforcing anti money laundering policies for gambling businesses.

Unlike the others proper licenses that technically all provide clear rules about players protection, etc... (even if extreeeemely loosely of course, eg. the Anjouan one for the Comores)

That's my understanding of it as it is, but maybe I am wrong

Aha! Yes, I see now. I consider it part of the aforementioned group, which emerged as the side option or response to the Curaçao course of action. I do agree its quality is not that shiny. You make a valid point about its uniqueness in responsible gambling; the almost absence of this field significantly simplifies the process of obtaining a license with minimal effort or expense. My opinion 🙂

Hey mrlazzaj,

Thanks for the clarification — I see your point more clearly now. You're right that Costa Rica doesn't issue gambling licenses and these operators are technically just registered as data processing centers. Referring to them as "licensed" casinos can definitely be misleading. I’ll be more precise in future references.

https://finlaw.in/online-gaming-legal-consulting

We even start to implement this on our website as well, and all the casinos under Costa Rica will be displayed as casinos with no license, so everyone is aware.