In private conversations, government members and market agents have said that the loopholes in the rules on ‘Bets’ could have been avoided if, from the beginning, the legislation had been drafted by the Civil House together with the Ministries of Health and Social Development – ??and not just by the Treasury, which focused its efforts only on tax issues.
Offensive on the sector
Throughout 2024, different sectors of society pointed out potential problems with the regulation of ‘Bets’. Criticism ranges from allowing the use of Bolsa Família benefits for gambling expenses to the lack of a national program to help gambling addicts.
The legalization of ‘Bets’ was approved during the Michel Temer administration and should have been finalized during the Jair Bolsonaro administration. Under Lula, the federal government began the process to regulate the sector as of January 1, 2025.
The initiative was announced at the beginning of the government as an essential measure to increase public revenue.
When attacks on the regulation began to proliferate, even members of parliament from the government's base who voted in favor of the project began to criticize the initiative.
The crisis gained new dimensions after the publication of a study by the Central Bank on the spending of Bolsa Família beneficiaries. The data was questioned by UOL and the sector, but the BC did not present the methodology of the study.
Now, it is up to the Supreme Court to have the final say on the constitutionality of the rules that were defined by the political class.
"There are no major adjustments to be made that were not already foreseen in the implementations of regulated operators. There are complex and sensitive discussion points regarding, for example, the blocking of illegal, unregulated or unlicensed websites, since the blocking process by Anatel is very complex", says Márcio Malta, CEO of Sorte Online.
According to him, the sector's expectations for the actions in the STF are positive.
STF has already barred Bolsa Família beneficiaries
At the end of 2024, the Supreme Court decided that Bolsa Família beneficiaries cannot spend the program's money on bets and banned advertising aimed at children and adolescents.
The government, however, is facing difficulties in implementing the blocking of bets by users.
Market agents say that the pressure being exerted on companies may end up causing the legislation to regress and harm legal businesses.
A businessman highlights that the offensive on the sector throughout 2024 forced the government to bring forward some measures, such as publishing the list of companies authorized to operate in the country and banning the use of credit cards.
Source: UOL
