The Ministry of Finance has opened the way to activate control bodies against Rio de Janeiro if there is a recurrence of the operation of bets licensed by the state throughout Brazil. In an interview with Poder360, Secretary Regis Dudena (Prizes and Betting) emphasized that the authorization granted by Loterj does not have national scope. He also stated that his department relies on the Central Bank and Federal Police to monitor betting houses.
“If it is necessary to use control bodies, they must be used. All of us, when we live in a society governed by the Constitution, must respect the Constitution and the laws,” he said.
Dudena reinforced that the scope of Loterj's authorization (State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro) is limited to the state sphere. “When a state is also allowed to explore a public service within the Brazilian federal model, it can only occur within the scope of its territory. The law does this, the Brazilian constitutional model provides for this,” he declared.
The secretary responsible for the regulation of sports betting in Brazil said, however, that he believes the situation can be resolved without going to court.
“I see no need for judicialization, since we have 2 federated entities able to grant. If we respect our competencies as the Union and the States and the Federal District respect theirs, I see no need,” he declared.
According to the secretary, 112 companies have applied to operate online betting in Brazil starting in 2025. The number was updated in the interview given to Poder360. Previously, there was information that 108 bets had requested accreditation from the Treasury.
Interpretation of Loterj
On July 31, the president of Loterj, Hazenclever Cançado, said that the license granted by the agency would allow not only operation in the State, but also national operation. Thus, it would have the same scope as that issued by the Ministry of Finance – whose grant is R$ 30 million to operate for 5 years.
“Our physical operation style scratch cards and prizes, this is within the limit of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Our online – sports betting online and online casinos – has no limit in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It is national. Today then the grant is R$ 5.2 million for exploration at the national level,” he declared to Poder360.
Other side: Loterj
Loterj (State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro) sent an official note to Poder360 at 8:50 PM on Sunday (Sep. 22, 2024). It stated that the secretary is “mistaken” and that the lottery regulated a law that gives online betting “the same legal-tax treatment that is given to e-commerce” and that, in practice, “taxation is at the domicile of the supplier, regardless of where the domicile of the consumer is.”
Read the full text:
“The Secretary of Prizes and Betting is mistaken. Loterj regulated Law 13.756/2018 in April 2023, giving online betting the same legal-tax treatment that is given to e-commerce, that is, taxation is at the domicile of the supplier, regardless of where the domicile of the consumer is. The regulation of the Union, which only came in December 2023, reserved the acts practiced by Loterj and the acquired rights of the operators in the eighth paragraph of Article 35-A of Law 14790/2023. The legal text says:
“‘§ 8º All concessions, permissions, authorizations, or direct exploitations promoted by the States and the Federal District from authorization procedures initiated before the publication of Provisional Measure No. 1.182, of July 24, 2023, are preserved and confirmed in their own terms, as understood those whose first public notice or corresponding public call was published on a date prior to the issuance of said Provisional Measure, regardless of the date of actual conclusion or issuance of the concession, permission, or authorization, respecting the acquired right and the perfect legal acts'.
“Therefore, the federal law itself reserved what had been previously regulated, which must be preserved so as not to violate the Constitution.”
The Treasury counts on the Central Bank and Federal Police to monitor bets
The Ministry of Finance hopes to count on the Central Bank to monitor betting houses. Dudena stated that one of the goals of this survey is to monitor the relationship of companies with financial institutions authorized by the monetary authority.
The Federal Police and Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) are also bodies that should assist in the process, according to Dudena. They would be responsible for taking down websites that are not authorized to operate in the country.
“We have a planned interaction with Anatel, with the Federal Police, with security secretariats, to ensure that the sites that are being made available, that are not from the list of authorized ones, are taken down,” he declared.
Another goal of the secretariat is to map the size of the betting market. Companies authorized to operate in Brazil will need to provide reports and monitoring of cash flow should help achieve this goal.
“We will have direct contact with these companies and will know, in fact, what the size of the financial volumes, the size of the number of bettors who are engaged is. So it is only from this moment that we, as regulatory bodies of this sector, will have this exact number,” he stated.
Studies from the private sector mapping the size of the betting market would not serve as a parameter. The secretary said that the idea of the Treasury is to have its own number. “It is obvious that there are various estimates and these estimates are often disparate among themselves because they consider very different things,” he declared.
Integrated actions on the esplanade
Regis Dudena said that the creation of a working group with the Ministry of Health is in the plans of the betting secretariat. According to him, one of the central themes is the creation of a campaign about addiction to betting.
The agencies plan to create an informative booklet on the subject. The idea is that both ministries act with an exchange of information to develop joint policies. “This interaction will allow us to receive technical information and use it in our relationship with betting houses.”
An expectation of the secretary with the integration is to promote actions linked to SUS (Unified Health System): “It allows sharing our information with the Ministry of Health so that the system can increase its capacity to receive people with problems [with betting]."
Sports is another ministry seen as a partner of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting. Part of the amount collected with the regulation of online betting should be transferred to actions to encourage sports practices. Of the total amount collected, 12% goes to different areas. Of this portion, 36% is allocated to sports.
Asked how this transfer would be and if there would be no possibility of privileges for certain modalities, the secretary passed the ball to the Ministry of Sports. He signaled that the team might, eventually, think of a way to make a more equitable distribution.
“Actually, how the resource that will be allocated for sports will be used, that is the competence of the [Ministry of] Sports. It seems to me that it will make the best possible use, including, eventually, making these compensations,” he stated.
The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) has two secretariats focused on betting. Understand the difference:
* Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (Ministry of Finance) – takes care of the regulatory theme. The head is Regis Dudena;
* Secretariat of Sports Betting and Economic Development of Sports (Ministry of Sports) – takes care of sports integrity. It was created to monitor, for example, the manipulation of results. The head is Giovanni Rocco Neto.
Source: Poder360
