Haiti Creates a Gambling Regulator and Leaves the State Lottery to Run Games

Three decrees published in August create a national gambling authority and take regulation away from the Loterie de l'État Haïtien, which has regulated the market while also running games in it. They also set licence fees, a gaming tax and a fixed borlette paytable, issued by a government without a sitting parliament.

• Haiti's Council of Ministers created the Autorité Nationale des Jeux de Hasard et d'Argent (ANJHA) by a decree dated 11 August, published in Le Moniteur on 21 August, to regulate casinos, betting, borlette and online gaming nationwide
• A Ministry of Economy and Finance notice dated 5 October, reported by Haitian media on 5 November, says only the tax authority may collect licence fees and taxes
• Annual licences cost 10 million gourdes (approximately $76,500) for casinos, 5 million for online operators and 2.5 million for borlette operators, and operators pay a 5% monthly advance on gross gaming revenue
• The Loterie de l'État Haïtien keeps its operating role, and authorisations it issued remain valid until they expire
• The model mirrors the Dominican Republic's new regulator, also under a finance ministry, next door on Hispaniola

Haiti Separates the Regulator From the Lottery

The first of the three decrees, in Le Moniteur Spécial No. 43, sets up the ANJHA as an autonomous administrative body under the supervision of the finance minister and based in Port-au-Prince. Its preamble says that modernising the sector requires separating regulation from commercial operation "afin de garantir la neutralité, l'impartialité et la crédibilité de l'action de l'État". The decree cites the 1958 laws governing the Haitian state lottery, which still describes itself on its website as the official regulator of gambling, and a 1960 decree reserving casinos to the state.

Under Article 4 the ANJHA issues operating licences and authorisations, inspects operators, fights illegal supply, runs responsible gambling campaigns and publishes the list of authorised operators. A five-member board is proposed by the finance minister. The director general is appointed by the President of the Republic by an arrêté taken in the Council of Ministers, on the minister's recommendation. None of the published texts or the ministry's notice names anyone to either post.

The ministry's public notice ties the reform to the fight against money laundering, illicit financial flows and terrorist financing. It says the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI) is the only body authorised to collect sums owed by operators, and urges them to pay nothing outside its official channels.

Five Licence Classes and a Fixed Borlette Paytable

The second decree, No. 43-A, grants licences only to sociétés anonymes, for one year at a time, in five classes: luxury gaming houses, online gaming, borlette, digital platform suppliers and other gaming halls. Applicants must lodge a 5 million gourde guarantee deposit with the central bank, the Banque de la République d'Haïti, and show the source of funds and criminal records for every shareholder. Telecommunications companies may not operate gambling.

Operators other than online ones must report wins of 100,000 gourdes (approximately $765) or more within 72 hours, and such wins must be paid by bank transfer or banker's cheque, not cash. The legal age is 18, and operators must offer self-exclusion and limits on deposits, stakes and time. Illegal operation carries one to three years in prison and a 5 million gourde fine.

The third decree, No. 43-B, sets a 50,000 gourde application fee and annual licences of 10 million gourdes for luxury gaming houses, 5 million (approximately $38,200) for online operators, 2.5 million (approximately $19,100) for borlette operators and 500,000 (approximately $3,800) for platform suppliers and other halls. Operators pay a monthly 5% advance on gross gaming revenue, and payments to providers outside Haiti suffer a 15% withholding. It also fixes the borlette paytable at 50, 20 and 10 gourdes per gourde staked on the first, second and third lots, and bans free "mariage" combinations. Licences are payable by 31 October each year.

The Lottery Loses Its Referee's Whistle

The Loterie de l'État Haïtien now sums up the new arrangement on its own website in one line: the ANJHA regulates, the LEH operates. Its authorisations run until they expire under Article 67 of decree 43-A, and holders must register them with the ANJHA. That gives incumbents continuity, but once those authorisations lapse, every borlette bank that held one must satisfy a new authority as a société anonyme, with a deposit and a licence fee.

The First Payment Date Has Passed Before the Authority Has Visibly Started

Decree 43-B makes licences payable by 31 October and requires the authority to send the DGI its operator list by 30 September. Both dates have passed. Neither the decrees nor the ministry's notice names a director general or sets a transition calendar, and the texts do not say how the first payment date applies to operators still trading on LEH authorisations. The fee schedule is in force before the body that should issue the licences has visibly started work.

Rules Made by Decree Without a Parliament Can Be Revisited

The decrees state that the legislature is "pour le moment inopérant" so the executive legislates by decree. Decrees 43-A and 43-B are signed by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, Finance Minister Serge Gabriel Collin and the cabinet. A separate ministry note this month refers to a revised electoral calendar. The Dominican Republic rebuilt its regime through a law passed by Congress. Haiti's rests on executive decrees that an elected government could revisit.

Haiti now has a modern licensing framework on paper, with fees, tax rates and penalties written down. Whether it changes the market depends on an authority that has yet to show who leads it.