The president of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region, João Batista Moreira, responded to the request of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) and suspended the license for betting houses registered in Rio de Janeiro via Loterj to operate throughout the country.
This suspension occurs despite the regulatory process initiated by the Ministry of Treasury.
TRF revokes the authorization of the 1st instance
The TRF-1 decision revokes the authorization previously granted by the first instance. The bookmakers intended to operate nationally, ignoring the regulatory process established by the Ministry of Treasury. However, the licenses for Rio de Janeiro remain valid, allowing these operations to continue locally.
The national regulatory process for betting houses and online games will come into effect from January 1, 2025.
Therefore, the judge, in his decision, highlights that gaming addiction must be seen as a public health problem. This approach is similar to other addictions, such as smoking, which equally affect the health of the population.
Thus, the judge also mentions that: “The same justification applies to the state monopoly on gambling or the production and trade of alcoholic beverages. It is a control activity, which, therefore, fits more into the classification as administrative police than public service. The same reasoning applies to the lottery.”
Official positioning of Loterj
In a statement, Loterj, the entity responsible for lotteries in Rio de Janeiro, stated that the decision does not change its operation. Because accredited companies will also continue to operate normally, despite federal regulations.
Read in full below:
The Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) informs that the recent decision of the Federal Regional Court (TRF) in no way changes its operations or those of its accredited companies. Loterj’s operations continue to be supported by the eighth paragraph of article 35-A of Law 14,790, and not by ordinances or injunctions.
The TRF1 only suspended the effects of the decision related to the ordinances of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) of the Ministry of Treasure which will only have an impact from January 2025, until the judgment of the appeal filed by the Union.
With regard to sports betting (bets), Loterj highlights that it is currently the only source of revenue for the Union, since the companies listed by Secretary Régis Dudena remain exempt from any tax collection. These companies did not have their license applications analyzed, they did not pay the grant, they are not collecting taxes and there is no plan for these processes to be analyzed.
It is important to highlight that, for every real collected by the State of Rio de Janeiro with the legalized betting operation, the Union receives eight times more in taxes.
Finally, unlike the Union, Loterj already immediately applies control restrictions, while the Union has been allowing betting operations by companies based in tax havens, without any criteria and control.