With the lawsuit, which was processed in secret by the courts, there was a delay and, now, the lottery will be launched in the next quarter. The initial revenue forecast varies between R$1 billion (US$ 177m) and R$2 billion (US$ 354m), but, according to executives involved, the potential is much greater.
Lotex follows the rules of a decree issued by the Ministry of Finance at the end of last year, which temporarily delegated to Caixa the right to operate Lotex in the same way as the Federal Lottery.
Part of the revenue is earmarked for social security, public safety, and sports and cultural incentives.
It is estimated that around 65% of the revenue will be earmarked for prizes. The minimum bet must be R$2.50 (US$ 0.44).
Lotex had been included in the list of privatizations during the Jair Bolsonaro government, but President Lula decided to keep it under public management.
Lawsuit
The lawsuit against Caixa was filed by the second-place bidder, who went to court claiming that there had been irregularities in the process.
In its petition, the company raised suspicions that Caixa had already chosen the Genlot consortium in May, in the middle of the process, and that the bidding terms provided for discounts on the bank's operating costs, something that, in practice, would distort the rules of the Treasury ordinance.
The court ruled in favor of Caixa and, at the same time, the case ended up in the TCU (Federal Court of Auditors), which found no irregularities.
Caixa reported that the contracting procedure carried out by Caixa Loterias has a legal basis, being characterized as a competitive positioning mechanism. "The bidding process respected the principles of public administration in full compliance with Caixa's legal regulations, governance and compliance," stated the state-owned bank.
However, this period of discussion caused a delay of almost three months in the process. The trip that had been scheduled by Caixa executives to China in May had to be postponed.
Source: Folha
