The economic team may raise up to R$3.4 billion (US$ 620m) this year with the regulation of 'Bets' (as the operators are called in Brazil) if the 113 requests for authorization received in the first phase of licensing are accepted by the Ministry of Finance.
In an interview with Estadão/Broadcast, the Secretary of Prizes and Bets, Regis Dudena, stated, however, that not all companies will obtain this authorization, given the mandatory requirements to operate in Brazil.
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“The expectation is that not all of them will be (accepted), but we still don’t know if they will comply with all the rules to be called and also whether or not they will comply with this final requirement of paying the grant,” explained Dudena. According to the secretary, the technical team has already carried out an initial inspection of the documents presented and notified some companies to obtain additional information.
The amount stipulated as a fixed grant for each company is R$30 million (US$ 5.4m), as provided for in the bill approved by Congress last year. Dudena explained that the R$3.4 billion (US$ 620m) in revenue is an estimated ceiling, since it is not yet possible to conclude that all companies that submitted the request are complying with all the rules to operate in the segment. Those who pass the technical team's screening will make the payment this year and the funds will be deposited in the federal government's coffers.
Awareness In view of the growing social concern about the spread of online gambling, Minister Fernando Haddad's assistant says that “all help” will be welcome in tackling irregular activities. He expects an interministerial working group to be formalized on the subject soon. The group will focus on issues such as mental health and help design a “self-test” so that gamblers can diagnose whether their involvement with gambling is problematic.
“Part of the task force announced by the Finance Minister is to advance information in society, for example, about the very nature of gambling. Today, part of the population still does not understand that gambling is mere entertainment. Gambling is not a way to make money, gambling is not a way to supplement income, gambling is not a way to become more socially interesting,” said Dudena.
As Estadão/Broadcast has already shown, the Central Bank and financial institutions are alert to the growth of the online betting market. For the Central Bank, resources allocated to interrupted ‘bets’ can reduce debt levels, which have been falling, albeit slowly, in recent months.
The Finance Secretary recalls that the first law that legalized betting was approved in 2018, and the last government passed without regulation. During this period, the sector developed without state control, he points out, having inherited the position in April, after the creation of the secretariat in January.
At the moment, the agency has already published ten ordinances regulating the betting market, and will now focus on the processes of authorizing houses and supervising and monitoring these companies. Regarding the aggressive advertising of online ‘Bets’, boosted by the projection of “influencers” on the internet, Dudena recalls that there are specific rules on the subject and that, if violated, the brand will be subject to sanctions.
Source: Estadão
