Brazil's Supreme Court suspends municipal lotteries nationwide and prohibits new acts related to betting.
The Brazilian Supreme Court has ordered the immediate suspension of all municipal lotteries operating in Brazil. The precautionary decision was issued by Justice Nunes Marques in the Argument of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 1212. The measure affects dozens of municipalities that had created their own betting systems, including fixed-odds modalities such as sports betting and online games.
The ruling, issued this Wednesday (3), suspends the effectiveness of all municipal regulations that created lotteries and authorized the operation of these services. The minister ordered the immediate end of ongoing operations and prohibited the practice of new acts related to these activities by municipalities.
Law 14.790, of December 2023, modified Law 13.756/2018 and centralized in the Ministry of Finance (MF) the responsibilities for regulating and accrediting companies authorized to operate betting. By adding article 35-A to the legislation, the text conferred normative treatment to the operation of lotteries by the States and the Federal District, without including the municipalities.
In his decision, Nunes Marques highlighted that lottery services have a strictly national character in legislative terms, and a national and regional character in administrative terms. According to him, the matter demands a high degree of care from the public authorities in its regulation and a centralized regulatory structure.
The Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) had already ruled on the potentially harmful effects of lotteries, especially fixed-odds betting, in the joint judgment of ADIs 7.721 and 7.723, under the rapporteurship of Minister Luiz Fux, published in November 2024. On that occasion, the Plenary pointed out the insufficient protection and regulatory deficit on the subject.
According to the minister, the operation of betting shops at the local level, without supervision from the Ministry of Finance and without complying with national criteria, creates a problematic legal situation: an economic activity prohibited at the federal level, but apparently authorized within 5.550 municipalities.
The decision points out that this diffuse system undermines federal oversight and relaxes standards in order to attract investment and revenue to the municipality, hindering the standardization of parameters and rules for consumer protection.
Municipal laws from Guarulhos (SP), São Vicente (SP), Belo Horizonte (MG), São Paulo (SP), and Campinas (SP) were cited as examples of regulations that innovate the federal discipline of transferring collected funds, causing a federal imbalance.
The minister emphasized that betting houses that do not meet the criteria stipulated by the Federal Executive Branch cannot operate lottery services at the municipal level. Any contrary interpretation would be incompatible with the constitutional principles of the economic order (article 170 of the Constitution).
Only in 2025, after the lawsuit was filed, did approximately 55 municipalities in 17 different states, from all regions of the country, create their own lotteries to operate lottery games and sports betting. There are records of more than 80 municipalities that issued regulations in the last three years creating lotteries.
The decision lists 70 municipalities that have established lottery systems, including Belém (PA), Betim (MG), Foz do Iguaçu (PR), Juiz de Fora (MG), São Gonçalo (RJ), Sorocaba (SP), and Teresópolis (RJ). The minister considered the intervention of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) urgent to prevent the deepening of the unconstitutional situation.
Failure to comply with the decision will result in a daily fine of R$ 500 for municipalities and companies that continue to provide lottery services, and R$ 50 for mayors and presidents of companies that continue to operate lottery activities.
The decision is supported by the precautionary measure granted in January 2025 by Minister André Mendonça in Original Civil Action (ACO) 3.696, ratified by the Supreme Court Plenary in March 2025.
The minister ordered the notification of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), and the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) to take appropriate measures, considering the technical cooperation agreements signed between these entities.
In December 2024, SPA/MF and Anatel formalized Technical Cooperation Agreement No. 45/2024 to optimize the blocking of websites that illegally exploit fixed-odds betting. More recently, the three entities signed Technical Cooperation Agreement No. 4/2025 to improve the detection and combating of illegal betting offerings in Brazil.
The decision will be submitted to a referendum by the full Supreme Court in an extraordinary virtual plenary session to be convened by the Court's Presidency.
Preliminary Injunction against Municipal Lotteries
