The Federal Court of Auditors in Brazil has demanded a ban on using social welfare money for betting following an appeal from the attorney general’s office (AGU).
Following a two-day hearing at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in November, the court voted to uphold minister Luis Fux’s emergency measure to immediately ban betting in Brazil using money from social welfare, including the Bolsa Família programme. Bolsa Família provides state support to poor families, provided children attend school and get vaccinated.
Last Thursday (12 December), however, the AGU lodged an appeal against the ban, arguing the government didn’t have the technical resources to effectively conduct the measure. It was difficult to differentiate funds from social welfare money from other money used to bet.
The AGU was keen to emphasise it wasn’t against the ban as such, but that it instead needed a “reasonable period” to ensure it could effectively carry it out.
Now though, Court of Auditors minister Jhonathan de Jesus has called upon the ministries of finance, sports and development, as well as federal bank Caixa Econômica Federal to immediately bring in the ban again.
Those bodies will have 15 days to discuss the matter from last Sunday (15 December), when the decision was signed.
According to Games Magazine Brazil, Jesus has also appealed for evidential information on the misuse of social welfare for betting. “The allocation of funds to betting, an activity that does not contribute to meeting basic needs or overcoming poverty, violates these objectives and compromises the effectiveness of the public policy of social assistance,” he said.
Does the Brazil government have the right to interfere?
In September, the Central Bank of Brazil stated a fifth of funds from its Bolsa Família programme shared in August were used for online gambling.
The AGU claims once social welfare has been transferred to its recipients, the government loses the right to influence where that money is then spent.
It also pointed to data from the National Secretariat of Citizen Income (Senarc), which outlined that only 1% of families on Bolsa Família fully withdraw social welfare using the given card. The other 99% use the bank account online that receives Bolsa Família benefits, which can also receive other income such as wages.
“Therefore, it is essential to understand that a possible blocking of the account invades the private sphere, where the citizen moves other income,” the AGU said.
There are also questions over whether state regulators such as the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) will have to adhere to such measures.
