The State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (Loterj) has filed a public civil action in the 13th Federal Civil Court of the Federal District requesting the annulment of the national list of authorized betting houses, published by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance. The process indicates that the release of these companies occurred without the due bidding process and promotes unfair competition, contrary to the decision of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) on the need for bidding.
Linked to the government of Cláudio Castro (PL), Loterj argues that only companies accredited by Rio can be considered regulated to operate throughout the country until the end of the year. All others should be blocked by Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), which is mentioned, but not requested in the action. When asked, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Treasury stated that it does not comment on ongoing legal actions.
The governments of Cláudio Castro and Lula are already engaged in a legal battle regarding the legality of the authorization, given by Rio, for the state-accredited companies, paying a grant of R$ 5 million, to operate nationwide.
The Union defends the application of federal law that restricts the operation of regionally accredited bets to the limits of each state — the government has an action in the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to prevent the national operation of bets registered in Rio.
Loterj argues that, when it launched its notice, this restriction did not exist, because an MP (provisional measure) that kicked off the regulation had not yet been edited. However, as shown by Folha, the Loterj's notice was rectified one day after the MP was issued, to eliminate the state restriction.
In the petition, presented on Tuesday (29) to the Federal Court in the Federal District, Loterj requests the immediate suspension of the national list of fixed quota betting companies until the bidding procedure is carried out and the federal grant fee of R$ 30 million is paid.
The list includes companies that submitted an accreditation request to the Treasury by September 17, which showed willingness to be part of the regulated market starting next year. The other sites, by exclusion, were considered illegal and, therefore, the Treasury requested Anatel to block them.
This Thursday, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets sent a new list of illegal sports betting and online gaming sites to Anatel, to be blocked. The first, sent on October 11, had just over 2,000 domains.
The Ministry of Finance also includes in the list published about sites considered regular those accredited by the states, like the houses of Loterj. But the dispute between the Union and Rio is regarding national operation.
In the process, Loterj also requests that the Union, the Treasury, and the secretary of Prize and Bets, Regis Dudena, be prohibited from "performing any acts of delegation of the execution of the public lottery service, expressly or tacitly, to private agents without the prior bidding procedure" and that they may not take measures aimed at "promotion, advertising, defense, or encouragement of the marketing of the public fixed quota betting service by non-bid companies."
Loterj bases its argument on the criticism that the companies listed by the Treasury are "authorized" to operate in Brazil until December 31. The Rio lottery claims that there was no prior bidding for this "authorization" — the petition always uses the term in quotes.
"Although no license has been granted at the federal level and no real has been collected as a fixed or variable grant by the Union, the ‘national list’ of companies ‘authorized’ to operate throughout the country, until the end of the year and during the so-called ‘adjustment period’", writes the lawyer Natália Fernandes Santiago, head of the legal advisory of Loterj.
She argues that "there is a regime of blatant unconstitutionality in the exploitation of the activity by third parties included in the Union's list" and that, therefore, the companies exclusively on the Union's list are "unauthorized to perform the activity".
"Consequently, these companies should have their sites blocked by Anatel and activities suspended, as already done by the Union in relation to those that did not express interest at the federal level and are not accredited by the States",
she continues.
For Loterj, there is "undeniable unfair competition" between the companies considered capable by the Treasury to act during the "adjustment period", without bidding, and the companies accredited by Rio, which, says the agency, went "through the rigors of a bidding procedure, payment of fixed and variable grants, collection of taxes, inspections, subjected to all the requirements of the Brazilian legal system."
The offer of bets has been free in Brazil since the end of 2018, but since then it has been without rules and supervision. Last year, the regulation process was initiated by the Lula government.
In practice, today, Rio de Janeiro and the Union are competitors for the accreditation of online betting houses to operate nationwide. Rio has used to its advantage, to attract more companies, that it charges R$ 5 million of fixed grant, against R$ 30 million of the Union.
Experts
Some experts point out that the SPA (Secretariat of Prizes and Bets) of the Ministry of Finance violates federal legislation on fixed quota bets. This is because, by publishing a list with 100 companies, totaling 219 bets authorized to operate until the end of the year, the secretariat would not have carried out the analysis of the documentation, the technical and financial capacity of the companies, in addition to not having charged the grant in the amount of R$ 30 million, as required by the federal law enacted in 2023.
The law establishes that the authorization to operate bets is only valid after all requirements are met. "The articles of Law 14.790 are clear about the need for a formal authorization. The positive list of the Ministry of Finance not only ignores this requirement, but also creates a dangerous precedent of implicit authorization in a sector that requires strict regulation", said the lawyer Álvaro Costa, specialist in Administrative Law.
Regarding the payment of the grant, the regulation of the Ministry of Finance determines that the companies interested have a maximum period of 30 days to make the payment after being notified about the conclusion of their request analysis. Non-compliance with this deadline results in the archiving of the request or the revocation of the authorization, as provided in article 13.
On the subject, the Treasury, in a note, stated that "among the determinations of the law is the establishment of a transition period, not less than 180 days for companies to adapt to the legal rules and that would be published through ordinances".
The law also recognized the state licenses issued before July 2023, including those of Loterj, allowing these companies to continue operating after paying the grant of R$ 5 million for a period of up to five years and bearing federal taxes and fees monthly.
The positive list was formulated based on SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1.475 and includes companies that requested authorization through the Betting Management System until the date of the ordinance publication, demonstrating interest in adjusting to the legislation.
For the economist Mariana Santos, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, the lack of charging of grant and taxes from these companies results in a significant loss of revenue, considering the market for sports betting in Brazil. "In addition to the legal violation, there is a potential billion-dollar loss in tax revenues, not to mention the risk of destabilizing a sector that sought regulation", she said.
Source: GMB
