Federal Judge Itagiba Catta Preta Neto, from the 4th Court of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1), granted this Tuesday (15) a preliminary injunction in favor of Megapix to allow it to maintain its activities until December 31. It was not included in the Ministry of Finance's list that allows bets to operate during the transition period to the regulated market, which begins on January 1, 2025.
The company Megapix Comunicação e Tecnologia Ltda., based in Caruaru (PE), was not included in the list of bets authorized to operate in Brazil by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, the platform filed for a preliminary injunction to extend until the end of the year the deadline to regularize.
In the request for the preliminary injunction, lawyers Ariane Sabrina Batista and Marcos Bispo Alves claim violation of the principle of legal certainty in the act that anticipated the deadline for regularization of bets. At the beginning of October, the Finance released a list of companies that requested authorization from the Ministry and that could continue operating.
“It is well-established in jurisprudence that the Administration cannot exceed its regulatory power by imposing sanctions, creating or reducing deadlines or other requirements that violate the principle of legal reserve,” wrote the federal judge in the injunction.
Citing the timeline of the ordinances published by the Finance, Catta Preta Neto mentions that, in May, the deadline of December 31 was established for the regularization of bets.
“A subsequent norm, during this period, that alters it, violates the principle of legal certainty. The Administration cannot change its acts at its own pleasure, without safeguarding the rights already established in favor of individuals,” stated the judge.
“The companies that were already in activity started a process of adaptation to the legislation with the expectation of a deadline that would end – and ends – on December 31, 2024. This is the deadline that applies to the plaintiff,” said Catta Preta Neto.
“In the case of the records, I grant the request for a preliminary injunction to determine that the plaintiff be authorized to operate until December 31, 2024, under the terms of SPA/MF Ordinance No. 827 of May 2024,” ruled Catta Preta Neto.
Source: GMB
