The market
Ecuador does not have a mature, dedicated gambling regulator or a full licensing authority in the way Colombia or Peru do. The state’s first move was fiscal: a 15% single income tax on sports-prediction operators, applied from 1 July 2024 under the Ley de Eficiencia Económica. In July 2024, of dozens of betting pages reportedly serving Ecuador, only seven had registered with the SRI, showing how much of the market sat offshore and informal.
Casino gambling has a fraught history in Ecuador (land-based casinos were banned by referendum in 2011), and the current framework addresses sports prediction (“pronósticos deportivos”), not a broad online casino regime. Play is football-led and largely served by offshore operators registering for tax rather than a local licence.
Regulation and licensing
There is no single gambling superintendency. Tax is administered by the Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI). Licensing arrived only in December 2024: Decreto Ejecutivo 487, signed 19 December 2024, created the Licencia para la Operación de Pronósticos Deportivos (LOPD) as the single authorising title, issued by the Ministerio del Deporte, valid five years and costing 655 basic unified salaries. Operators based abroad must appoint a local representative to handle tax.
The tax is a 15% single income tax on operators’ gross income minus prizes paid, administered by the SRI with monthly filing, plus a 15% withholding on player prizes. Enforcement tools include closure of physical or electronic establishments for local operators that fail to register, and IP blocking for non-resident operators, applicable since late 2024.
Marketing and player rules
Ecuador has no developed advertising or responsible-gambling code specific to online betting; commentary through 2024 noted the absence of clear advertising rules. The player-facing tax is significant: a 15% withholding on prizes, which becomes a tax credit for the winner at annual filing. Age and self-exclusion rules are not codified in a comprehensive online framework as in the regulated LatAm markets.
What this means for your plan
Ecuador is a watch. The 15% operator tax and a five-year LOPD licence give a route in, but the framework is tax-first and lacks the full consumer-protection and technical apparatus a serious operator wants for certainty. I would register for tax if already taking Ecuadorian traffic, since the SRI can block IPs and close operations, but I would not treat the LOPD as evidence of a mature market. Wait for a fuller regulatory build, and watch whether licensing moves beyond sports prediction into a broader online regime.
Sources
- SRI, boletín Impuesto a la Renta Único a los Operadores de Pronósticos Deportivos, checked 5 September 2026
- Yogonet, licencia de cinco años (Decreto Ejecutivo 487), 655 SBU, checked 5 September 2026
- La República (Ecuador), Decreto Ejecutivo 487 y la regulación de las apuestas, checked 5 September 2026