Last Thursday (13), the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) interrupted its online betting services outside the state. The suspension complies with a determination by Minister André Mendonça, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), in a case filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU).
The Supreme Court demanded that betting houses accredited by Loterj cease operating outside of Rio de Janeiro. Only platforms that prove that they operate within state limits, using geolocation mechanisms, will be able to continue operating. The measure was published in the Official Gazette of Rio de Janeiro.
Loterj x STF
The STF minister, André Mendonça, supported the opinion that prohibited Loterj from operating outside of Rio de Janeiro, under penalty of a daily fine of half a million reais to the body.
Furthermore, the president of the state lottery, Hazenclever Lopes Cançado, would also be fined 50 thousand reais per day if the terms were not respected.
“Legal uncertainty in Brazilian betting exposes legal weaknesses, unfair competition and bureaucracy that disrupt the market and harm the economy,” Cançado wrote in an article for Migalhas.
Mendonça rejected Loterj’s appeal against the decision on January 7, claiming that the state regulator disagreed only because of “mere disagreement with the appealed decision”. He also warned that failure to comply with federal legislation could lead to the suspension or even definitive cessation of gaming exploitation.
According to the AGU, Loterj’s situation gave other states the possibility of questioning the rules related to the sports betting and online gaming sector. “Impacting cybersecurity, responsible gaming, the financial health of operators and the fight against money laundering.”
It is worth remembering that Loterj published a notice in 2024 to accredit betting companies, with a requirement to pay R$5 million per license. In other words, an amount much lower than that established by the Ministry of Finance of 30 million reais.
