The Federal Court prohibited Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) from blocking sports betting sites outside the State of Rio de Janeiro as a result of the case involving Loterj.
This decision happened because, since last week, the municipality had prevented access to “bets” not registered in accordance with the rules of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The Federal Court of the 1st Region (Brasília) gave authorization.
Loterj case and reactions to the decision
The blockade was requested by Loterj (Lotteries of the State of Rio de Janeiro), based on a state decree from 2023. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) contacted the TRF-1 for clarification on the court decision.
Thus, judge Pablo Zuniga Dourado found that the blockade could have affected companies that were in compliance with Loterj rules.
Then, an urgent subpoena was ordered to Anatel to comment on compliance with the decision that resulted in the blocking. The judge warned that compliance must strictly follow the terms of the decision, without exceeding the limits of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
“Anatel has informed that compliance with the court decision must be limited to its exact terms. It cannot go beyond the limits of the State of Rio de Janeiro”.
The sanction applied by Anatel, at the request of Loterj, affected hundreds of companies. Thus, the agency alleged technical difficulties in limiting the blockade to a single state.
But, at the end of June, Loterj obtained a court decision to remove all sports betting sites without official registration in Rio de Janeiro.
Loterj was based on a state decree on betting regulation, published before the approval of Law 14,790 of 2023, which regulates sports betting in Brazil.
Protest by sports betting companies
According to the law, inspection in Rio de Janeiro is the responsibility of Loterj. At the time, a Provisional Measure was in force (MP 1,182 of 2023) that dealt with the matter. Both regulations established the Ministry of Treasury as responsible for monitoring and granting licenses.
Article 4 of Law 14,790 of 2023 establishes: “Fixed odds bets will be operated in a competitive environment, subject to prior authorization to be issued by the Ministry of Treasury, in accordance with this Law and the regulations referred to in § 3 of art. 29 of Law No. 13,756, of December 12, 2018”.
While associations representing companies in the sector claim that the blockade requested by Loterj goes against national law. In a statement, ANJL said it viewed the blockade with “perplexity”.
“The determination to suspend the sites occurred without the companies ever being heard either in the judicial process or by Anatel, at a stage in which the market is under a regulatory process in Brazil, with a transition period guaranteed nationally to operators until December 31, 2024″, stated ANJL in a note.
According to the entity, the situation creates legal uncertainty. Therefore, although the STF jurisprudence says that the exploitation of lotteries should not be a monopoly of the Federal Power, regulation is the responsibility of the Union alone.
