In his appearance before the CPI of Betting, the head of the SPA reported that these companies only need to comply with the final requirements. He also referred to the blocking of illegal sites and the regulation of advertising.
Brazil.- Of the 114 companies that applied for authorization to operate in the online betting market, 71 have already been authorized to pay the grant of R$ 30m (USD 4.9m) to start their operations, according to the Secretary of Awards and Betting of the Ministry of Finance, Regis Dudena. The secretary also reiterated that from January 1, 2025, only duly regulated betting companies will be able to operate in the country.
Dudena appeared before the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation (CPI) of Betting, during a marathon session that lasted several hours, to explain how the Government addresses the betting market, focusing on control and inspection measures. Before the parliamentary investigative body, the secretary stated that these companies met almost all the requirements demanded by the Ministry of Finance to function properly.
“So far, 71 companies have been notified by the Ministry of Finance, and they have 30 days from the notification to comply with these final requirements. Of them, 16 have already paid the grant. Today we have 16 companies that have already paid a total of R$ 480m (USD 79m) in grants to the Ministry of Finance,” said the secretary. “They started to be notified on the 19th of last month, so they have until the 18th of this month or the 19th of this month to comply with the payment of this subsidy, so some have already complied and others have not yet,” explained Dudena.
Initiated in May this year, the deadline for companies to apply for the final certification ended in August. During this period, 114 companies submitted an application. In September, the Ministry of Finance published a decree ordering the suspension of the operations of counterparty betting companies that did not request authorization to operate in the country.
The deadline to apply for authorization expired on October 1, and the websites of companies that did not request regulation of their operations began to be blocked on the 11th of the same month. The company that requested the license, but was not yet operational, will have to continue waiting to start operations in January, if the secretariat authorizes the activity.
“We have had three waves of domains identified in our area, in many cases with the help of the Federal Police and other criminal prosecution bodies. We have already eliminated a total of 5,283 domains. There were three waves: one of 2,027, another of 1,443, a third of 1,813. So, 5,283 websites have already been eliminated and we already have another batch that should be sent to Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) for its elimination,” Dudena reported on the progress of the blockades imposed by the national government on companies operating outside the law.
See also: Online betting in Brazil: the list of authorized companies will be published in the last fortnight of December
Dudena also said that the ministry continues to monitor the activities of companies that requested authorization. According to the secretary, some of them are taking advantage of the regulatory period to continue engaging in illicit activities.
“We have been very committed to monitoring this sector to identify who the actors are and who the relevant service providers are. So, if on one hand we have some companies that, taking advantage of this adjustment period, are engaging in activities that seem illegal to us, we have warned them and have managed, in most cases, or so far in all cases, to withdraw in these activities, such as, for example, the company that had more domains available on its website than possible. Additionally, we have also identified financial service providers, and here again together with the Central Bank, with the task force of the Federal Police, to recognize who these companies are and how they have acted,” he reported.
