The four already authorized companies underwent accreditation as Fixed Quota Betting (AQF) operators, which is a technical term for sports betting, documentation approval, and integration tests of their own systems with the platform contracted by Lottopar. Finally, as stipulated in the notice, they received a grant of R$5 million (US$ 1m) each to begin their activities in Paraná.
“Part of these grant resources, as well as new ones that can be raised with new companies that join, are being used for equipment and systems used to control operations and to ensure that there is no diversion of resources and that no bettor is harmed,” stated the acting governor, Darci Piana.
To date, the State has raised R$20 million (US$ 4m) from grants alone. In addition to the pre-fixed amount already paid, the companies that will operate sports betting in Paraná will pay 5% royalties and 1% variable grant on top of the monthly gross revenue from the sale of bets, minus the amounts passed on as prizes to bettors in the period.
Social benefits
The majority of the revenue will be applied by the state executive in areas such as popular housing, public security, in addition to financing social programs and actions.
“The bets would happen anyway, so with regulation by the State, part of the resources that would go to other places will be reverted to the population of Paraná, in addition to the regulation promoting more seriousness, control and smoothness of operations,” added Piana.
According to the president of Lottopar, Daniel Romanowski, sports betting already existed, however, without any regulation and with companies operating from outside the country. “For almost five years, these bets operated only in the offshore model, without holding operators accountable or paying taxes,” he explained.
“Following the STF decision that allowed States to regulate sports betting, Paraná has already accredited interested companies, with eight qualifications, four of which begin operating immediately. With this, bettors now have access to official websites licensed and operated by serious companies, which gives more security to the bettor and brings a financial return for the entire population,” added Lottopar’s president.
Qualified companies
The companies authorized to offer sports betting to people from Paraná are Apostau, Bplay, Aposta.La and Pixbet. There are also four other companies accredited and authorized by Lottopar and whose authorization depends only on payment of the grant.
On the Lottopar website, users can find more information about companies authorized to operate in the State, as well as answers to the most frequently asked questions related to the authority's activities.
The hiring processes also require that all qualified companies have headquarters in Paraná and that there is a customer service available 24 hours a day.
Lottopar's director of operations, Fabio Veiga, clarifies that the Paraná municipality will act as a supervisor, but will also provide support to bettors who use the websites of approved operators.
“Lottopar will monitor, through the contracted platform, 100% of operations, always respecting the LGPD and the privacy of bettors. If you have any questions, you can also contact our team via the website, telephone or email,” he states.
Paraná was one of the pioneers in the process of regulating state lotteries. The State was the first to establish its own rules regarding sports betting, one of the first to open accreditation for this lottery modality and to accredit testing and certification laboratories for the games. Measures have been taken to ensure safety and confidence for operators and bettors.
More recently, Lottopar was also the first state lottery in Brazil to join the World Lottery Association (WLA), the largest lottery association in the world, which brings together more than 150 state lotteries from 80 countries on five continents.
Security
At the event that authorized the start of operations, a technical cooperation agreement was also signed by Lottopar, the Civil Police and the Scientific Police to share information between the bodies to ensure the fairness of sports betting in Paraná. The document provides that Lottopar will provide security agencies with broad access to the management platform and payment methods, as well as related websites and databases.
“This cooperation agreement between the Security Secretariat, through the Civil Police and Scientific Police, is essential for us to have smoothness throughout the process, avoiding possible fraud and other issues that call into question the credibility of the process,” defended the secretary of Public Security, Colonel Hudson Teixeira. “In addition, part of the proceeds will be invested in improving public safety.”
During last Friday morning, Lottopar and the State Secretariat for Sport promoted the 1st Responsible and Safe Gaming Workshop, with a presentation of Sportradar and its sports integrity and responsible gaming tools. The event aimed to alert sports entities and betting operators about appropriate conduct related to sports betting.
Among the measures that must be adopted by operators and that will be monitored by Lottopar are informing bettors about the real probabilities of winning; provide guidance on moderation in betting and for bettors to enjoy gaming experiences under low-risk conditions; prevent children under 18 from placing bets; provide guidance on possible harm related to games and their treatments; and prohibit betting payments by credit card to avoid debt.
Attendance
Also participating in the launch were the state secretaries of Administration and Social Security, Elisandro Frigo; of Sports, Helio Wirbiski; the State Attorney General, Luciano Borges; the administrative-financial director of Lottopar, Rogério Cesar Nogueira; Lottopar's operations director, Fabio Veiga; Lottopar's technical director, Rafael Halila; Lottopar's chief of staff, Stefanny Fernandes, and representatives from Apostau, Bplay, Aposta.La, Pixbet and the Lottopar team.
Source: GMB
