Online gambling in Paraguay: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Paraguay?

Law 1016/1997, as amended by Law 7438/2025 (promulgated 3 January 2025) and regulated by Decree 3846/2025, places the gaming regulator Conajzar inside the tax authority DNIT and requires every game to be exploited under a concession won in a public tender. The reform allows up to three concessions each for sports betting and the quiniela and lists online casino as a licensable modality. In practice Daruma SAM (Apostala) still holds the exclusive sports betting concession until 2028, the quiniela was split between two concessionaires in April 2026, and a sports betting tender announced for 2026 had not been awarded as of September 2026. Games outside the concession system are prohibited and Conajzar can order blocking of unauthorized online channels.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Paraguay?

• Comisión Nacional de Juegos de Azar (Conajzar) — Regulator that runs tenders, awards and supervises concessions, sets game rules and orders blocking of unauthorized online gaming; a body of the DNIT since 2025
• Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios (DNIT) — Tax and customs authority that houses Conajzar, collects concession fees (canon) and distributes them to municipalities, departments, social assistance and the Treasury

Paraguay gambling licence: how it works

There is no open licence application in Paraguay: each game modality is exploited under a concession that Conajzar awards through a public tender approved by executive decree, with the concession fee (canon) bid as a percentage of takings above a floor set in the tender documents. Law 7438/2025 lists the modalities that must be tendered, including casinos (concessions of up to 20 years), quiniela and sports betting (up to three concessions each), lotteries, bingo, telebingo, lotto and online casino; new modalities may first be authorized provisionally and must be tendered after three years. The quiniela tender (LP 01/2025) was awarded in April 2026 to two concessionaires for five years at a 19% canon on gross monthly takings with a guaranteed minimum. Sports betting remains under Daruma SAM's exclusive concession until 2028, and authorities have said a tender to add up to two operators will be run under the new law. No online casino tender had been published as of September 2026.

What an applicant needs

• Participation in a Conajzar public tender for the specific game modality when one is open
• Legal, technical and financial solvency demonstrated under the tender documents (pliego de bases y condiciones)
• Canon offer at or above the floor set in the tender, plus performance and substitute-payment guarantees before contract signature
• Registers of bets taken, prizes paid and unclaimed prizes, with unclaimed amounts transferred to the national health fund
• Operation only within Paraguayan territory for online modalities, as defined by Law 7438/2025
• Compliance with Conajzar monitoring of online channels and payment flows

Gambling taxes in Paraguay

• Operators: A concession fee (canon) on takings bid in each tender and paid monthly to the DNIT (19% of gross monthly takings for the 2026 quiniela concessions), plus general taxes: 10% corporate income tax, 10% VAT where applicable and other national levies. After a 0.7% DNIT deduction, national-game canon is distributed 30% to municipalities, 30% to departmental governments, 30% to the Dirección de Beneficencia y Ayuda Social and 10% to the Treasury.
• Players: Prizes are payable in full within 60 business days of the draw; unclaimed prizes pass to the national health fund. No general withholding on online betting prizes is set in Law 7438/2025.
• Also: Concessionaires must keep detailed registers of bets, prizes paid and prizes not paid or unclaimed for DNIT audit, and Conajzar may commission external audits when the canon is based on takings or profits.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Only concession holders may promote games of chance; Conajzar monitors websites, social media and other channels used to sell or advertise online gaming, authorized or not, and can order alerts, blocks and cancellations with the entities that administer them.

Responsible gaming

Law 7438/2025 bars minors from gambling and earmarks fines from operations against illegal gaming for treatment of minors and people with ludopathy through municipal child-protection offices; concessionaires apply age checks and responsible-gaming messaging under Conajzar rules.

Identity and age verification

Concessionaires identify players for prize payment and reporting; Paraguay's AML framework under SEPRELAD treats gaming operators as reporting entities.

Payments

Concessionaires take payment through local banking, wallets and agency networks under their contracts; Conajzar may order payment intermediaries and telecom providers to block flows to unauthorized online platforms. Crypto is not contemplated in the gaming law.

Notable restrictions

• Any game not listed in the law or authorized by Conajzar is prohibited
• Every modality requires a concession won in a public tender
• Sports betting is exclusive to one concessionaire until 2028; the law allows up to three
• Online casino is recognized but no concession has been awarded
• Pre-2025 provisional authorizations expire at the end of their contract or three years after the law and cannot be extended

Paraguay iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate of online gaming revenue; ABC Color reports that the quiniela alone handles more than USD 120 million a year in sales, which explains the interest in the 2026 tender.

No participation survey is published; Apostala is the only licensed sports betting brand and lottery products are sold through agency networks nationwide.

Mobile wallets and transfers are the main digital rails in Paraguay; no official share of online play is published.

Daruma SAM (Apostala) holds the sole sports betting concession; the quiniela passes from TDP's exclusive concession to two concessionaires in 2026; land-based casinos operate under departmental and Asunción concessions.

Timeline: how Paraguay got here

1. 1997Law 1016 establishes the concession regime for games of chance and creates Conajzar
2. 2023Law 7143 creates the DNIT, later made the home of Conajzar
3. 2024-12Congress sanctions the reform of Law 1016 ending single concessions for quiniela and sports betting
4. 2025-01Law 7438/2025 is promulgated on 3 January; Conajzar becomes part of the DNIT
5. 2025-05Decree 3846/2025 regulates the new law and repeals the 1999 and 2015 decrees
6. 2025-08Authorities announce a 2026 tender to add sports betting operators alongside Apostala
7. 2026-04Conajzar awards two five-year quiniela concessions at a 19% canon (Resolution 47/2026)
8. 2026-06Decree 6278 extends the outgoing quiniela concession to 30 September 2026 for the transition

Outlook

The next milestones are the sports betting tender promised under Law 7438/2025, which must be reconciled with Apostala's exclusivity to 2028, and a first online casino tender, for which no documents had been published as of September 2026. The quiniela transition to two operators completes in late 2026. Expect Conajzar, now with DNIT resources, to expand blocking of unauthorized online platforms and to publish tender documents that will fix canon floors, guarantees and technical requirements for online concessions.

Launching in Paraguay with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. Paraguay admits online operators only through concessions won in public tenders, sports betting is exclusive until 2028 and online casino has not been tendered, so GameBridge excludes Paraguay by default and works with prospective bidders on a consult basis.

Paraguay is excluded by default in GameBridge geo lists so that no brand serves Paraguayan residents without a concession. For a company preparing a bid, GameBridge provides the technical dossier a tender typically requires: platform architecture, game certification packages, responsible-gaming and identity controls, and reporting designs for canon audits. If a concession is awarded, the brand would run in Spanish (Latin America) with a PYG wallet, geolocation limited to Paraguayan territory, local transfers and wallets connected on request through the concessionaire's providers, age gates and the registers of bets and prizes the law requires. Nothing is configured for Paraguayan residents until the concession is signed.

• Paraguay excluded by default in geo lists
• Tender-ready technical and certification documentation
• Spanish (Latin America) site language and PYG wallet for a concession holder
• Geolocation limited to Paraguayan territory
• Bet, prize and unclaimed-prize registers for DNIT audit
• Local transfer and wallet connections on request

No content is offered to Paraguayan residents by default; sportsbook and slot catalogs with certification packages would be prepared for a concession holder once a tender is won.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Ley Nº 7438/2025 que modifica y amplía la Ley Nº 1016/1997 — Biblioteca y Archivo Central del Congreso Nacional, accessed 2026-09-11
• Ley N° 7438 moderniza sistema de juegos de azar — Conajzar se integra a la DNIT — Dirección Nacional de Ingresos Tributarios, accessed 2026-09-11
• La Ley 7438/2025 marca un punto de inflexión para el mercado del juego en Paraguay — CasinoCompendium, accessed 2026-09-11
• Conajzar adjudica la quiniela: un negocio millonario con dos nuevos concesionarios — ABC Color, accessed 2026-09-11
• SAGSE Paraguay: autoridades de Conajzar presentaron la nueva Ley 7438/2025 — Yogonet, accessed 2026-09-11
• El Gobierno paraguayo extiende la concesión de la quiniela hasta septiembre — Yogonet, accessed 2026-09-11
• ¿Es legal el juego en Paraguay? — SOFTSWISS, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.