According to the State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro, the Union has not yet advanced in any previous bidding process and none of the companies have yet paid the fixed subsidy, both steps required by law.
Brazil.- The State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (Loterj) filed a Public Civil Action, with a request for a precautionary measure, against the Federal Union, the Secretary of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA) and the Secretary of Prizes and Bets, Regis Dudena, for the immediate suspension of the national list of betting companies, officially published by the SPA, until the prior bidding procedure and the payment of the fixed concession fee provided by law. The Public Civil Action (ACP) is a judicial process aimed at protecting collective or diffuse interests, holding those responsible for the damages caused.
The initial petition defends the prohibition of delegating the public lottery service to private agents without the prior bidding procedure and the granting of these delegations without requiring the prior payment of the legal consideration established as a fixed subsidy, imposing the relevant obligations on the defendants.
«The legal basis is supported by a very recent issue established by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), as well as the violation of articles of the Federal Constitution, resulting in very serious damages to public and social property», explained from Loterj.
On September 28, the STF resolved, in the General Repercussion Theme 1323, which deals with “State delegation requirement for the exploitation of lotteries by private agents, without prior bidding”, and confirmed that the exploitation of lotteries by private agents requires prior bidding, having established the sentence that: “The execution of the public lottery service by private agents depends on state delegation preceded by offers».
In this regard, Loterj reported that it implemented the lottery service in the State of Rio de Janeiro, through the Circular of Accreditation No. 01/2023 and that the “Union, to date, has not granted any formal act of delegation to private agents for the exploration of fixed quota bets at the federal level, admitting, contrary to the law, the free exploitation of these services by individuals at the national level -as if they were accredited, even without a prior bidding process and the fulfillment of other legal requirements- based on the simple expression of interest in a future accreditation before the Secretary of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA), from January 1, 2025”.
“If the Union has not yet granted any authorization preceded by bidding, which, according to the terms of the SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1.475/2024, postponed until January 1, 2025, there is evidently a regime of blatant unconstitutionality in the exploration of the activity of third parties included in the Union's list, therefore, the companies included exclusively in the Union's list are not authorized to carry out the activity”, argued from Loterj.
See also: Why the requests for licenses to operate sports betting skyrocketed to Loterj after the enactment of Ordinance 1.475
