The governors of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Acre, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro and the Federal District filed a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to request changes to Law No. 14,790, which regulates the betting market.

The action alleges that the changes that the legislation approved last year made to Law No. 13,756/2018 restrict the same economic group from obtaining a concession to operate lottery services in more than one state.

“These consequences should fall mainly on states with less economic strength. This is because, since the private operator is responsible for the concession in only one state, it is expected that the most capable economic agents will prioritize those with greater population demand, as well as those whose population has greater purchasing power, to the detriment of less attractive states,” the action describes.

The document was filed by the STF last Wednesday (8). On the STF website, it is stated that the process was distributed to Minister Alexandre de Moraes.

Rules on advertising

Governors also complain about the current advertising restrictions imposed by the gambling law . The current rule prohibits advertising for betting services from being broadcast in a state other than the one in which the service is actually provided.

For the authors of the action, the service provided by lotteries occurs when a person purchases a ticket, while advertising only seeks to attract a potential user. Therefore, by restricting advertising only to users located within the territorial limits of the federation entity, the law would violate reasonableness.

They also criticize the fact that the veto affects free competition, by preventing the lotteries from exploiting their advertising potential to attract new users.