Mendonça also denied Loterj's request to open an investigation and supplement the decision with additional guidelines. The lottery had requested that guidelines be included on the scheduling of deadlines and institutional collaboration to facilitate compliance with the decision.
Loterj appealed again to the Supreme Court after the first appeal was denied by the minister. The lottery claims that there was an omission in Mendonça's previous decisions and stated that it was having difficulties in complying with the decision that determined the use of electronic geolocation mechanisms.
This Friday (24), Mendonça said that the issues raised had already been addressed in the initial decision and in the previous statement of objection. Therefore, the lottery's requests did not change the legal conclusion on the case.
The minister is the rapporteur of the original civil action (ACO) 3696, filed by the federal government against Loterj. The Attorney General's Office (AGU) argues to the Court that the lottery invades federal jurisdiction by operating lottery services throughout the national territory. On January 2, Mendonça accepted the Union's request, in a precautionary decision, and restricted Loterj's operations outside Rio de Janeiro.
Union x Loterj
In April 2023, Loterj launched a notice for the accreditation, with a duration of up to five years, of lottery operators that operate in online fixed-odds sports betting. The contest stipulated that interested companies should have a geolocation service, to certify that the bets were being made in the territory of Rio de Janeiro.
In July of the same year, the Rio de Janeiro state government presented a rectification to the notice, excluding the requirement for location monitoring, understanding that “players/bettors access the platforms of accredited companies and, even if they are not physically in Rio de Janeiro, accept (affirm that they agree) that their bets are considered to be made in the state, since they use a platform accredited by Loterj.”
However, in October 2024, the AGU filed a preliminary injunction with the STF, claiming that the amendment to the notice violated Loterj's state jurisdiction and the regulation of sports betting. In the lawsuit, the federal government argues that Rio de Janeiro has accredited companies to operate lottery services nationwide, invading the Ministry of Finance's jurisdiction to regulate betting operators.
“Loterj has accredited companies to operate the public lottery service nationwide, with harmful consequences for the federative pact and free competition, to the detriment not only of the Union, but also of other states interested in offering public lottery services,” it claims.
In contrast, Loterj argued that the amendment does not aim to regularize betting operators nationwide and that the AGU's interpretation “does not have the power to characterize national exploitation by Loterj, which does not exist.”
Also according to the Rio de Janeiro state agency, the Union intends to suspend a condition that, at the time of the notice, was in accordance with current legislation. Loterj argues that the AGU's action is based on an “offense to a law that did not even exist when the notice and its amendment were published.”
In his decision of January 2, Justice André Mendonça states that, as a central political entity, the power to operate public services with a national scope or scope is exclusive to the Union.
He cites the passenger transportation system as an example: “In the case of interstate and international transportation, the ownership and power to operate this public service, as already stated by this Court, belongs to the Union. The municipalities are responsible for providing the local public transportation service. The states, on the other hand, have the power to operate the intercity passenger transportation service, respecting their territorial limits,” he ponders.
At the time, the judge granted a preliminary injunction to suspend the amendment to the Loterj accreditation notice. In addition, he determined that, within five days, the autarchy must cease operating the activities of operators outside the limits of the state. territories of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
Source: Jota
