According to the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), the state should block beneficiaries of social programs, such as Bolsa Família, from gambling with government funds. However, this prohibition should only be limited to bets placed in betting houses, thus allowing these individuals to use these funds to bet on Caixa lotteries.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGU) defended this issue before the Supreme Federal Court (STF), and this position was present in the Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality (ADIs). These actions discuss the regulatory framework for fixed-odds betting and are under the jurisdiction of Justice Luiz Fux.
Last November, these requests led the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to order the government to immediately adopt measures to prevent the use of Bolsa Família and Continuous Benefit Payment (BPC) funds for fixed-odds betting.
However, one detail of the request was that the ban only applies to bets operated by private companies. Thus, Caixa’s lotteries would be outside this process, as they are operated by the Federal Government.
Therefore, according to the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), bets placed on private platforms differ from those placed on public platforms, such as federal lotteries. Furthermore, according to the agency, the activities have distinct natures and should be subject to different legal regimes.
Because the ban does not extend to Caixa lotteries.
According to the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), bets on Caixa’s lotteries are: “episodic bets, through contests with pre-set dates, which generate low engagement, since there is no continuous stimulus.” Therefore, it believes they should not be included in the blocking order requested by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).
It is worth noting that the lawsuits were initiated by the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC) and the Solidarity party. In them, the entities question provisions of the legal framework that regulated the sports betting and online gaming market in the country.
At the time, to comply with the Supreme Court’s precautionary decision, the Ministry of Finance issued regulations requiring private betting companies to block beneficiaries of social programs. This was based on their CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID) and registration on the platform.
