Includes provision for the opening of casinos if the regulation is not approved within 12 months
The Plenary of the House of Representatives of Brazil held voting on bill PL 442/91, which legalizes gambling, including casinos, bingo halls, the illegal lottery jogo do bicho, and sports betting, almost at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23. The approved bill now passes for debate in the Senate.
Representatives in the Lower House supported Rep. Felipe Carreras’s proposal to authorize permanent or temporary licenses to explore gambling activity in the country, and according to this, each state can authorize one casino, with the exception of the state of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, which can authorize two each, while São Paulo can count on three casinos. Potentially this means a total of 30 casinos.
Soon after approval of PL 442/91, the leader of the government faction, Rep. Ricardo Barros, said that President Jair Bolsonaro will veto the bill if it is approved by the Senate. According to local sources, this threat that has the backing of evangelical legislators would be opposed by a few of them, including Bolsonaro’s two senator sons, who favour casinos and have strong business contacts with foreign casino firms.
Throughout the day, Rep. Carreras held permanent dialogue with the leaders of different party caucuses to analyze the 37 amendments that the project received in order to present the final gambling law text, and when this was finally presented to the Plenary, it gained consensus for some last-minute modifications.
Finally, the House approved legalization of gambling in Brazil with 246 votes in favour, 202 votes against and 3 abstentions. The salient points in the approved PL 442/91 are:
Taxation
Gambling taxation has been one of the most contentious points before the vote, and it was agreed to create the Cide-jogos format with a rate of 17% for gambling and betting based on gross gaming revenue (GGR) resulting from total incomes in the activity after paying out winning and prizes to players and bettors.
Casinos
According to the gambling law text, casinos can be installed in integrated resorts, and as part of this they must have at least 100 high-end hotel rooms, places for meetings and events, restaurants, bars and shopping centres. The physical space of the casino operation must have a maximum area of 20% of the total built area of the complex, where electronic and roulette games, cards and other authorized forms of gambling can be explored.
For authorization of places where casinos can be opened, the Executive must consider the existence of the tourist heritage and the economic and social potential of the region. Each private company may have only one concession per state, and accreditation will be carried out by public auction based on technical and economic formats.
Tourist Cities
The installation of a casino will be allowed, regardless of the population density of the state in which they are located, in places classified as hubs or tourist destinations.
The proposal defines these places as those that have a regional identity, adequate infrastructure, and an existing offer of tourist services, high density of tourists and a title of natural heritage of humanity, as well as having tourism as an important economic activity. A tourist casino cannot be located less than 100 kilometres away from any casino in a leisure complex or integrated resort.
Floating Casinos
The novelty in relation to the previous versions of the gambling law text is the operation of casinos in river boats, establishing one floating casino for each river with 1,500 km to 2,500 km in length; two floating casinos for each river with an extension of between 2,500 km and 3,500 km; and three floating casinos per river with an extension of more than 3,500 km.
The casinos vessels may not be anchored in the same place for more than 30 consecutive days, and the concession may be for up to ten establishments. Such vessels must have at least 50 luxury cabins, restaurants and bars and shopping centres, as well as places for events and meetings.
Bingo
In the case of bingos, the text allows its operation permanently only in bingo houses, allowing municipalities and the Federal District to explore these games in stadiums with a capacity of more than 15,000 fans.
Bingo houses must have a minimum capital of R$ 10 million, with a minimum area of 1,500 square meters, where up to 400 videobingo machines can be installed. Slot machines will be banned in bingo operations.
A maximum of one bingo house per 150,000 inhabitants has been authorized in the text, and licenses will be allowed for 25 years, and renewable for the same period.
Jogo do bicho
For the legalization of Jogo do bicho, the text requires that all the records of the licensee, whether betting or extraction, are computerized with the possibility of access by the State in real time (online) through the national Audit and Control System (SAC).
Interested parties must have a minimum share capital of R$ 10 million with reserve of funds under guarantee for the payment of the obligations and the public rights stipulated in the project, with the exception of prizes, which can be in the form of a cash deposit, insurance or bank bond guarantee.
Jogo do bjcho authorization will be for a period of 25 years, renewable for the same period if the requirements are met. There may be a maximum of one operator per 700,000 inhabitants in each state or the Federal District. In localities with less than 700,000 inhabitants, there should only be one Jogo do bicho accredited operator. Payment of prizes up to the limit of the income tax exemption will not require the identification of the bettor.
Temporary Operations
Perhaps the most important thing about the approved PL 442/91 is that: “If after 12 months of approval of the future law there is no regulation, the provisional operation of videobingo, bingo and Jogo do bicho will be authorized throughout the national territory until the regulations are approved.
