"Social Security benefits are for people's subsistence. The challenge is that we cannot intervene in private money. But since payments are subsidized by the government, our legal team is studying the prohibition based on this, that there is money from the Treasury and public money was not created to be used in gambling."
Lupi gave a lecture at the Brazilian Lawyers Institute and in an interview at the end of the event, he was emphatic:
"I do not want to be arbitrary or authoritarian. I understand that it is the citizen's money, but I also understand that that is not what retirement and pensions are for. They are to guarantee people's survival. And gambling is not a survival system anywhere in the world."
The minister argued that the measure would be similar to the prohibition of the use of welfare benefits, such as Bolsa Família and the Continuous Benefit Payment - BPC.
Lupi added that banks have mechanisms to prevent customers from making transfers to betting sites: "The bank separates all payments. If you look at your statement, it's there: groceries, purchases, electricity. If you prohibit it, the system itself can prevent it."
According to Lupi, the Ministry's legal team is evaluating whether the prohibition can be made directly by the National Social Security Institute, via an ordinance, or whether it needs to be evaluated by the National Social Security Council.
Source: Agência Brasil
