The Philippines’ gambling regulator has clarified that it hasn’t granted any company a monopoly on providing random number generator (RNG) casino games to its online gambling licensees.
On September 26, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) issued a memorandum certifying Montford Inc. – described as “a distributor of RNG-based games developed by Playtech” – as a Gaming Software Provider for its Philippine Offshore Gambling Operator (POGO) licensees.
PAGCOR’s memo went on to warn POGO licensees that “to date,” Montford was the only accredited RNG game provider, and thus “only the RNG-based games distributed by Montford are allowed to be used by our POGO licensees.” This edict was “effective immediately” and any licensees found to be using other providers would be subject to “the corresponding demerits and administrative penalties.”
In a statement (read it here) provided by PAGCOR to CalvinAyre.com on Friday, PAGCOR says it “did not grant monopoly to Playtech” for RNG online casino games. The statement referenced a September 4 memo issued by PAGCOR’s Offshore Gaming Licensing Department (OGLD) that gave POGO licensees 15 days in which to “apply for the necessary accreditation for their gaming software providers.”
PAGCOR said its September 26 memo re Montford “was made considering that only Montford Inc. complied with the directive” in the September 4 memo. PAGCOR stressed that this “does not preclude any other gaming platform provider from applying for the same accreditation.”
PAGCOR emphasized that the OGLD “gave the POGO licensees sufficient time to comply with our directive to apply for the appropriate accreditation” and this directive “is still standing at present,” meaning OGLD “still accepts any application for accreditation as gaming software providers.”
PAGCOR added that it “does not aim to limit POGO licensees on their preference regarding the use of RNG-based games for their respective offshore gaming operations” and the regulator “aims to uphold not only the legality of the conduct of offshore gaming operations in the Philippines but also the integrity of the industry.”
CalvinAyre.com attempted to confirm whether PAGCOR has received any applications for accreditation of gaming software providers besides Montford’s, and if not, to what PAGCOR attributed this apparent inability of POGO licensees to observe the stated deadlines. The regulator had yet to respond before this article was published.
