Legislation
Brazil – Working Group puts forward draft bill in Chamber of Deputies
By Phil - 7 December 2021
Deputy Felipe Carreras, who is serving as rapporteur of the drafting of the new version of gambling legislation in the lower house, has put forward the updated text of Bill PL 442 /91. The bill is an amalgamation of as many as twenty other gambling related projects all of which have been discussed since 1999.
The text authorizes the operation of casinos, bingo halls, sports betting, online gambling, skill games as well as street lottery “the animal game.” However the exact rules for each type of game were not established nor were license fees or taxes.
The project does though propose the creation of a new federal regulatory body for all gambling which if approved would be called Sinaj – The National Gaming and Betting System. The bill also proposes a database of players which would be used to help limit gambling related harm called Renajogo – The National Registry of Players and Gamblers. In order to operate in Brazil, companies would have to have headquarters and offices in the country, and would be subject to the standards defined by the federal regulatory and supervisory body, which would establish the criteria for the granting of licenses.
The draft is subject to modifications, and its purpose is to provide an initial basis for discussion amongst parliamentarians, with a view to preparing the Final Report of the Working Group, which will be presented to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira.
In September Deputy Lira announced that the Working Group made up of ten deputies from different parties would debate how PL 442/91 should be updated. The group was given 90 days to complete the work. Deputy Felipe Carreras was named as the rapporteur of the new bill. Bill 442/1991 has been on hold since August 2016 after it was approved by the Special Committee on the Regulatory Framework for Games. Lawmakers are ready to vote on the bill but it needs to be updated first. Currently there are two bills both of which would allow for a major expansion of the gaming industry: one in the Senate and the other in the House of Deputies.
