Puerto Rico starts charging $1,500 per games of chance machines in business

The executive director of the Commission, Orlando A. Rivera Carrión, issued a communication last Friday to the wholesale owners or operators of these machines in which he informs them that the first payment of $ 500 for these licenses must be made as of next 23rd of August and they will have 30 days, or until September 30, to do so.

The two subsequent payments, which are for the same amount, must be made before November 31, 2021 and January 31, 2022.

“During the first semester of 2021, the first one hundred operators of route gambling machines (machines) were certified in accordance with Section 10 of the Gaming Machines Law, Law 11 of August 22, 1933 ”, informs Rivera Carrión in his communication.
It indicates that the $ 1,500 of the annual cost of the aforementioned license includes a label that will be adhered to the upper left part of the machine's cabinet screen and will have an electromagnetic technology system, known as RFID, for its acronym in English (Radio- Frequency Identification).

“Each Operator must issue a payment corresponding to the total number of Machines it owns, which shall not be less than one hundred (100), nor more than two hundred and fifty (250) machines. Failure to comply with the requirement of any of the machine license payments within the terms provided by the Commission will lead to the revocation of the Wholesale owner or operator certification ”, he adds.

The executive director of the Gaming Commission warns that each operator is responsible, together with the business owners, of informing the Commission of the location of all their machines and tells them that, after receiving the second payment for the rights of license of each machine, the agency will inspect the businesses where they will be located to confirm that they are complying with the requirements of the Law.

“Any business that owns machines without a label may be guilty of a less serious crime and if convicted, it will be punished by imprisonment for a maximum term of six months or will be subject to a fine of not less than $ 5,000, nor greater than $ 10,000, or both. penalties at the discretion of the court. Any subsequent conviction will be imposed a fixed fine of twenty thousand $ 20,000 and will be considered a felony with confinement for a period of one (1) year ”, it indicates.