The probability of Rio of losing its game is great. Minister Gilmar Mendes of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has ordered to bring to court the lawsuit filed by governor Luiz Fernando Pezão questioning the monopoly of the Union to explore lotteries.
As the Attorney General's Office (PGR) has already ruled that the lawsuit should be dismissed, the risk that Rio’s Government will be defeated is real. In this case, the state would stop exploiting the instant lotteries, the popular scratch cards, that yield US$ 1.45m a week to the public coffers.
The governor states in the action that "the monopoly of the operation of the lottery service destabilizes the federative pact, it offends the right of the other units of the Federation to also exploit this economic activity, in addition to compromising the revenue and, consequently, federally assured budgets."
The end of scratch cards directly impacts dozens of philanthropic entities in Rio, since 70% of Loterj's net income, around US$ 4.9 million per year, is allocated to social, cultural and sporting projects in the state. "They want to use a law of 1967 to give the game to private capital, to transform it into an international private monopoly. They have crossed the border," complained Loterj’s president, Sérgio Ricardo de Almeida.
According to him, the Federal Government is resorting to the legislation of the times of the Dictatorship to end the scratch cards of Rio de Janeiro. "The military began to legislate on issues such as customs. In 1967, they decided that state lotteries that existed could continue, but no new ones could be created," Almeida explained.
If the Federal Supreme Court (STF) rules in favor of the Union, the state could keep only the “'Rio de Prêmios'', which is a substitute for the traditional state lottery, that sells 500,000 tickets a week. Even so, the circulation would be limited to 100,000 tickets per week, as it was in 1967. Rio' scratch cards would have to be extinguished because they were created after 1967.
The president of Loterj claims that the Union wants to give the game's exploitation to foreign capital, with the creation of the Exclusive Instant Lottery (Lotex). The government is preparing an international bidding, granting concession period of 15 years to the winner, and granting value of US$ 135 million.
Part of profit goes to charity
It's not just the lucky bettors who win with state lotteries. Nursing homes, special homes for children and philanthropic entities end up being benefited with a slice of the collection of the games.
Institutions such as the Niteroiense Association of the Physically Disabled, which serves 7 thousand people per year; 42 of the 64 units of the Association of Parents and Friends of the Exceptional (Apaes); 22 of the 26 Pestalozzi units, with 43 thousand visits per year, and the House of the Child and Adolescent of Volta Redonda, with about one thousand people per month, are among the beneficiaries with part of the expenses charged by Loterj.
According to President Almeida, since 2015 about 100 projects have been awarded with lottery money. "Loterj banked the Foundation for Childhood and Adolescence (FIA) for six months in the crisis of the state," he said.
Source: GMB / O Dia
