Is online gambling legal in Ecuador?

Legal overview

Ecuador has no licence for online casino games. The basic rule is old: Supreme Decree 130 of 1937 prohibits games in which chance alone decides the outcome, and Article 236 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code (COIP) makes running casinos, gaming halls, betting houses or other businesses dedicated to games of chance a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. Casinos and gaming halls had to close after voters backed the ban in the 2011 referendum. In May 2026 the Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General del Estado) confirmed that games of chance are, as a rule, an unlawful object under civil law, that no authority may license them without an express legal exception, and that the only current exceptions are the lottery of the Junta de Beneficencia de Guayaquil and certain festive raffles.

Sports betting is treated differently. The general regulation to the Organic Law on Sport, issued by Decree 422 on 12 June 2026, created the first licensing framework for online sports forecasting platforms (pronósticos deportivos), supervised by the Vice-Ministry of Sport. Licences run for up to five years, operators already active had until 11 September 2026 to apply, and the rules set per-bet, daily and monthly stake limits by payment method, a 15% withholding on prizes and a ban on sponsorship and influencer promotion of unlicensed platforms. Decree 445 of 10 July 2026 rewrote Article 235 of the regulation so that this licence is the only permit for operating sports forecasting in Ecuador. Secondary rules are due by 9 December 2026.

None of this covers online casino games, slots or poker. Offshore casino sites are not authorised, and players who use them have no Ecuadorian protection or complaint route. According to trade press, the tax authority (SRI) has applied 15% VAT to online betting and online games used from Ecuador since April 2026, which does not make them legal.