The Solidarity party filed a lawsuit with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) against the operation of municipal lotteries and fixed-odds bets by municipalities.
According to the party, companies not accredited by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), linked to the Ministry of Treasury, have been operating these services through municipal tenders. The case is reported by Minister Nunes Marques.
According to Solidarity , companies in the betting market find a way to circumvent regulations in municipal lotteries.
Therefore, the party claims that, in Bodó (RN), the value of the concession for the exploration of the activity is R$5 thousand, a minimum fraction of the R$30 million required by the Ministry of Treasury for companies of the same type. With just over 2 thousand inhabitants, Bodó registers one betting company for every 62 residents.
Furthermore, the petition highlights that there are indications that the betting sites accredited in the city operate outside its territorial limits. The Ministry of Treasury has already notified the City Hall about the irregularities, but, to date, the municipality continues to operate the services.
Other cities that have instituted municipal lotteries
Along the same lines, the lawsuit mentions 13 other cities that have instituted municipal lotteries, such as Belo Horizonte (MG), Porto Alegre (RS), Campinas (SP) and Anápolis (GO). The party highlights that several locations have implemented lotteries to explore betting modalities without following federal regulations.
“These are entities within the federative structure that, despite not being authorized by federal legislation, expose citizens, through public service concessions, to games of chance such as slot machines (video lotteries) and betting sites operated by private individuals who are also not authorized,” he argues.
Solidarity claims that the municipalities are mistakenly using a precedent from the STF, which allowed the exploitation of economic activity by states in the judgments of ADPFs 492 and 493 and ADI 4,986. However, the decision does not cover municipal lotteries, only state lotteries.
“More than the formal unconstitutionality in their genesis, municipal lotteries have unbalanced the exploration of similar activities by the Union and the states (entities effectively authorized to do so) and served as a true safe haven for the exploration of the activity by companies not authorized in the country, which is why the immediate action of this STF remains essential”, highlights lawyer Felipe Botelho Silva Mauad, from the Mudrovitsch Advogados law firm, who represents the party in the action.
Online service provision and petition
The party argues that the provision of online services allows a municipality’s concession to have national scope, violating the Union’s jurisdiction.
“What municipalities are doing in the current circumstances, eager to increase revenue at any cost, is a true transgression of the federative principle and in relation to constitutionally established powers,” he states.
The caption also claims that municipalities are not following the rules for transferring the amounts collected.
“Municipalities will receive double, or more, than what other federated entities are receiving, all in disagreement with the provisions of the rule arising from the Union’s jurisdiction — it should be repeated: at the very least, it would be required that municipalities also pass on amounts to other federated entities (as the federal rule does with them)”, he highlights.
The petition also points out that municipal lotteries gain a competitive advantage, with lower regulatory costs and the possibility of operating nationwide. Thus, harming companies registered by the states and the Union.
Finally, in the action, Solidariedade requests a preliminary injunction to suspend the municipal laws that instituted lotteries. The case is being processed in the Argument of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 1212, under the reporting of Minister Nunes Marques.
