The Government of Paraná regulated fixed odds bets, known as “bets”, of the Paraná State Lottery (Lottopar). Decree 2,434/2023 is another step towards the implementation of the public lottery service in the State, which will be coordinated by the autarchy created in 2021.
According to the document, Lottopar is responsible for accrediting, homologating, supervising and inspecting the companies that will explore the betting modality in the State. In addition, the entity, linked to the Secretariat for Administration and Social Security, may also apply sanctions and penalties to companies that do not follow the legal rules.
Fixed odds betting on sporting events is a type of bet where the bettor tries to predict the outcome of a specific event. The Paraná decree establishes that punters know, at the time of the bet, what the odds are for the game, that is, how much they can win with the bet.
Registered companies will be responsible for providing all the information necessary to understand the game system, require filling out a reliable registration, comply with the General Data Protection Law, prohibit the transfer of balance between players to avoid currency evasion, among several other obligations described in the decree.
In accredited bets, companies must undertake to pay the prizes to the players and collect the amounts that must be transferred to Lottopar in connection with this exploitation.
There are 5% of social contributions and this 1% on the operator’s gross revenue for the previous month, a total of 6% of the operators’ gross profit. The resources will make social actions by the State possible, mainly in housing and public safety, in accordance with the law that created the program.
The public notice for the accreditation of lottery operators to explore sports betting is open – whoever does not register will be operating in Paraná illegally. Operators must be fully connected to the management platform and means of payment established by Lottopar, which will guarantee security and transparency in the process.
According to the announcement, participation is allowed from companies and consortia that meet the established minimum technical requirements. The document also requires companies to have paid-up capital or shareholders’ equity equal to or greater than BRL 2 million, which inhibits “adventurers”, and invest an initial fixed grant of BRL 5 million for five-year exploration, reverted to the State government.
In practice, what the State of Paraná is achieving with this modality is the official registration of companies in the segment for operation with better established rules and the possibility that the resources arising from this activity are invested in public policies.
Awareness
In addition, with the aim of curbing any illegal practice, the decree provides for a series of measures that prohibit, for example, betting by people linked to lottery operation companies, servers and people with access to fixed betting systems, athletes, sports leaders , referees, sports entrepreneurs or those responsible for sports competitions.
Lottopar will also establish partnerships with sports entities to make athletes and sports officials aware of the importance of staying away from games. Reporting channels, information materials and advertising campaigns will be created to guide the population about the rules. Among the assumptions are that betting should not be seen as a source of income.
“In addition, we will demand that lottery operators, together with Lottopar, promote informative and preventive actions to curb irregularities and disseminate good gaming practices. Companies will also have to provide data on players with suspicious and fraudulent attitudes”, details the president of Lottopar, Daniel Romanowski.
Modalities
In 2020, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) ruled that the Union’s exclusivity under the public service of lotteries was unconstitutional, and Paraná started the movement to create the state public service of lotteries.
The following year, Law 20.945/21 officially created the Paraná State Lottery. According to the legislation, part of the funds collected from the bets will be allocated to the maintenance of social programs and the development of actions and services related to public safety, popular housing and promotion of the rights of the elderly, with funds also reverted to the Recovery and Stabilization Fund Inspector of Paraná – FUNREP.
In Paraná, there will be some modalities. In addition to the fixed-quota bet, there will be a more traditional lottery operation, with the other modalities provided for by law. Numerical prediction (correct the bet numbers), specific prediction (similar to the Time Mania model), instant betting (scratch cards) and passive betting (in which the bettor buys a ticket that is already numbered).
