Senator Angelo Coronel advocates for the regulation of online betting, highlighting that the delay in implementing the rules causes the government to lose revenue. He states that it is essential to generate income, improve oversight, and support social and public health programs. For Coronel, the delay in systematizing the operation of bets contributes to a distortion of what was approved by the National Congress.
The regulation of online betting by the National Congress, in addition to removing various sites that had no responsibility with Brazilian legislation, was good for systematizing the operation of companies and generating resources for the Union, but the delay in applying the rules is causing the government to lose money, as well as facilitating people's continued search for betting houses banned by the new law.
This is stated by Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA), who was the rapporteur of Bill 3.626/2023, approved in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, which regulated fixed-quota sports betting in the "bets".
In a conversation with Bahia Notícias, the senator recalled that the project regulated a provisional measure from 2018 that was converted into Law 13.756/2018, and the new legislation voted last year enabled the federal government to collect taxes from games that were already in operation, thereby increasing revenue that will also help meet fiscal targets.
Coronel said he did not invent gambling, he merely regulated what already existed and did not generate dividends for the Brazilian state. However, for the senator, the delay in systematizing the operation of bets is helping to cause a distortion of the regulation approved by the National Congress.
"There is some distortion in the betting sector due to a lack of speed in regulation. To give you an idea, it has been about a year since I was appointed rapporteur, and soon after we approved this project, which was from the Executive Power, and since then practically the whole year of 2024 has passed without regulation by the government”.
“This slowness is what causes people to use means that are banned in the project. But how? Without regulation, it was not possible to curb, for example, the use of credit cards, which I think should be prohibited. In the regulation, the use of Bolsa Família cards should also be prohibited. In fact, it is necessary to take advantage and monitor these Bolsa Família cards that are gambling", said the senator.
After a statement by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the subject, the Minister of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, Wellington Dias, said last week that the federal government is studying some way to prohibit the use of the Bolsa Família card to deposit money in online betting. According to the minister, this decision has already been made and now what is lacking is the technical implementation of the prohibition.
At the end of last month, the government was surprised by a study from the Central Bank on the market for gambling and online betting, which identified that five million beneficiaries of Bolsa Família had allocated R$ 3 billion to bets just in the month of August. The study also showed that the total bet by Brazilians on bets in August would have reached R$ 20.8 billion.
Asked by BN if he maintains his position of defending the importance of regulating betting in Brazil, even in the face of numbers that show a significant increase in people's indebtedness, Angelo Coronel emphasized that regulation was important not only to legalize the operation of the sector, but to generate revenue that will be applied in essential sectors for the population.
"I believe that regulation was of great importance, especially for a country like Brazil, which has several social programs needing resources. The taxes that the games will generate will be applied in various areas, such as health, public safety, education”.
“Various sectors will be revitalized, even more now that we are seeing that the revenue projection that was made at the beginning was one, and in fact it will be well beyond what was previously anticipated. Besides the grant of R$ 30 million from each bet, we will have the taxes charged from the bets, and just that will also give an immediate revenue, and we cannot fail to have this revenue in Brazil", affirmed Coronel.
For the senator, the federal government, from the revenue derived from the regulation of the operation of bets, could think about relieving companies, the most penalized with the current excessive tax burden in the country.
"I want to bring money into the Union, into the government. Regulating bets is better than increasing taxes on Brazilian companies. It is to collect from a segment that generates taxes and with that stop increasing the taxes of companies. Brazilian companies cannot withstand such a tax burden. So we have to take these segments that already exist all over the world, like that of betting, and regulate them to be able, perhaps, to reduce the tax burden or at least maintain the one that is already there", said.
Another point emphasized by Senator Angelo Coronel was the importance of the rules approved by Congress to systematize access for bettors to the bets. Coronel highlighted that it will be possible to identify who makes the bet in the companies that have registered with the government, and again called for greater speed in the regularization of the operation of the sector.
"Before the approval of the project by Congress, there were no rules in the sector. Whoever entered the sites to play, no one could identify if the person was a child, if they were using the Bolsa Família card. People entered the sites, played, if they won they received, but no one knew where it came from and who was the person betting. And with the regulation that we approved, even with this slowness in the regulation of companies, it will be possible to veto the irregular use of bets. I believe that the game will become healthier", pointed out Angelo Coronel.
Finally, questioned by Bahia Notícias if the state will be able to support people who are becoming addicted to online games, the senator from Bahia said he believes that the resources collected from bets could finance public health policies aimed at assisting citizens who are having difficulties quitting betting.
"I think that the resource from the collection with bets could also be directed to the health area. It is very important that there is this direction to this area of public health, to take part of this resource to apply in actions aimed at curing people who have gambling addiction. That is why I reaffirm that this regulation is very important, and I think that speeches aimed at giving up a revenue that is a reality all over the world, I see that there is an excessive dose of hypocrisy", concluded Senator Angelo Coronel.
Source: Bahia Notícias
