The government published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Thursday (29) the decree 11,935 that removes the Exclusive Instant Lottery from the National Privatization Program (PND).
Created in 1990, the “raspadinhas” (scratchcards) were tickets that players could buy at lottery outlets. By scratching a field — or a set of fields — the bettor knew instantly whether he had won a cash prize.
The old scratchcard was suspended in 2015 and two unsuccessful attempts to privatize the sport took place during Jair Bolsonaro's term. Last year, President Lula changed Lotex's regulatory rules so that Caixa would start operating the game until a model for granting the product to the private sector was defined.
After the changes, the resumption of Lotex operations by Caixa was officially authorized by the Ministry of Finance at the end of December last year, for a period of 24 months.
At Caixa's first meeting with Febralot (Brazilian Federation of Lottery Companies) in January, the president of Caixa Loterias, Lucíola Aor Vasconcelos, confirmed the resumption of Lotex and that it would be launched in March, depending on bidding issues for a possible partnership. She added that prints, face values and prizes are already planned.
Although Caixa has not yet defined how Lotex will operate, the government has already informed that tickets will be offered in printed and digital formats and that it expects to raise more than R$3 billion (US$ 605m) per year with the resumption of the scratchcard.
According to the rules defined by the Ministry of Finance in December last year, the revenue obtained through Lotex must be distributed as follows:
Source: GMB
