Bill 3.626 needs to be amended to avoid violating the Constitution.

Bill No. 3.626/2023, which deals with the regulation of fixed-odds betting ( bets ), reported by Senator Ângelo Coronel (PSD-BA), approved by the Senate Plenary.

It's time for us to hopefully review a point in the text that, if approved as it stands, will certainly cause significant losses to the states and lottery operators in the country.

In general terms, the intention is to add Article 35-G to Law No. 13.756/18 (which lists the types of lotteries that can be operated), whose paragraph 2 states: "Only one concession will be permitted to the same economic group or legal entity, and in only one State or in the Federal District . "

Two problems immediately become evident: the first is seen in the Constitution. Limiting lottery operators to only one concession in a country as vast as Brazil is a clear affront to free competition, even if it involves the delegation of a public service.

This is because, even though the portion of revenue that goes to the public sector is allocated to social security projects, investments in security, and even the sports sector, the private entity carries out this activity with the aim of making a profit, as in any commercial activity — with the only difference being that, here, it provides a public service.

It is certain that violations of free competition not only unbalance the market, but also create obstacles for the position of the end consumer — in this case, the community as a whole — in the dynamics of consumer relations.

Secondly, since the private operator is granted the concession in only one state, it is possible to predict that those states whose citizens have greater purchasing power will be chosen, to the detriment of competitiveness and consequent revenue in less attractive states.

IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) even made available the list of gross domestic products for each state in 2023, with São Paulo in first place, with a GDP of R$ 2,7 trillion, equivalent to 30,2% of all economic activity in the country. In 24th place, in turn, is Tocantins, with R$ 51,7 billion, equivalent to 0,6% of the country's production.

The discrepancy signals the concern indicated above. Both states have been studying the market for the delegation of lottery services, with the state of Tocantins having published a decree on November 29th regulating the operation of such a service.

Given that a company or economic group is only granted one concession, the question is: would the private partner choose the state of São Paulo or Tocantins?

This proposed addition to the bill could harm economically vulnerable states that would greatly benefit from the operation of this service, which will likely face failed bids due to a lack of interested parties, consequently failing to collect significant funds for social projects.

This provision in Bill 3.626/2023 does not provide any benefit, whether to the public authorities, the citizen, or the private partner. It is hoped that postponing the vote will prompt some reflection by the legislator, with the consequent removal of this section when the final text of the law is published.

(*) Anna Florença Anastasia is an administrative lawyer at GVM Advogados, with a focus primarily on Gaming Law. She holds a law degree from the Dom Helder Câmara Higher School and is pursuing a postgraduate degree in contracts and bidding at the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. The article was published in Consultor Jurídico.