Philippines to cap POGO licenses at 50

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is looking to limit the number of the online offshore gaming licences to 50 in order to avoid “oversaturation” in the industry, as per the local media.

Assistant Vice-president of PAGCOR’s Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), Jose S. Tria Jr., told reporters that his agency is considering to limit the country’s online gaming operators and that there are 42 licensed offshore gaming operators, with 12 still awaiting approval.

“We will be able to assess the saturation of the market through the audit system.”, “If the income of each operator goes down from their previously reported income, this means there are too many operators.” he said.

He couldn’t offer a specific timeline as the agency is still waiting to develop an audit system that automatically tracks cash flow.
“It depends on the evaluation. Our audit system is delayed at the procurement”, “Our latest estimate on its installation is September,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a forum yesterday.

As per the PAGCOR, it estimates that it will generate P6 billion (US$121.6 million) in taxes in annual revenue from licensees.
“We are looking at more or less P3 billion in taxes, POGO alone. If we are able to streamline operations, (it can go as high as) P6 billion a year, in tax revenues,” he said.

Operators that obtain a licence will be subject to a 1.5% tax rate on gross gaming revenue, with funds to be paid to PAGCOR on a monthly basis.