Lawmakers on the Committee on Finance have urged the government to consider outlawing sports betting during the day as a method of fostering productivity and innovation among the populace.
Mr. Enos Asiimwe (Kabula County) yesterday while interacting with the Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (LGRB) advised that the practice be only authorized after business hours.
“Why don’t you begin the adjustments in the regulations? We may shift the time to 5 pm, after working hours, to make youngsters more productive since you find individuals involved in gaming as early as 10 am,” Mr. Asiimwe remarked.
In response, the acting chief executive officer of LGRB, Mr. Denis Ngabirano, welcomed the notion, adding that they are developing a series of legislation to address difficulties impacting the industry.
“We have quite a lot of adjustments and new rules we are putting in place and time is one of the concerns that we want to fix.
However, as you are aware, most gaming activities are shifting online. Approximately 60 percent of the gaming activities are online, so essentially the time would influence casinos, “Mr. Ngabirano added.
The MPs encouraged the betting regulator to acquire knowledge on digital-related subjects from the Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) (UCC).
But several MPs rejected the plan. Ms. Jane Pacutho, the woman MP for Pakwach District, expressed worry that if betting time was adjusted, some men would not have time for their families after work.
“You are going to generate domestic violence, people beginning to do things from 7 pm up to 2 am. How?” Ms. Pacutho pondered.
The gaming regulator, who was presenting their policy statement before the same committee, presented a budgetary request of Shs2 billion to build an electric monitoring system that would, among others, reduce loopholes exploited by illegal gamblers.
According to Mr. Ngabirano, if authorized, the method would reduce income losses caused by unlawful activity and hence improve the revenue of the government.
“This system will monitor the significant events that occur on gaming systems and machines, it will interface with every gaming software, and it will allow the board to keep track of tax collection, ensure that children are not playing, and it has a money laundering protection module to report suspicious transactions,” he said.
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