Sao Paulo government signs decree authorizing state lottery bidding

The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, published this Tuesday, 11, a decree that allows the opening of bidding for the concession of public services for the state lottery for a period of 15 years. The choice of the company that will operate the system will be made in an auction that should take place in October.

The initiative is led by Companhia Paulista de Parcerias (CPP), which is linked to the Secretariat of Investment Partnerships.

The government's forecast is to raise R$3.4 billion in 15 years. According to federal legislation, public resources obtained from betting must be directed to combating social vulnerability. In the state of São Paulo, these resources will be allocated entirely to the health sector.

The action authorizes the bidding of specific prediction lotteries, sports predictions, numerical predictions, instant and passive.

On the other hand, by federal law, the exploration of unforeseen lottery modalities that have not been expressly authorized by the state government will not be permitted.

The movement to bid for lotteries began during João Doria's administration, in 2021, but the attempts failed. At the time, the TCE-SP (São Paulo State Audit Court) blocked the public notice for the state concession of lottery services after seeing superficiality in the project's economic feasibility study. The body also identified flaws in the bidding's technical qualification criteria. Now, Tarcísio believes that all these issues have been resolved, according to information from the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.

Collection
When approving the modeling for the concession of lottery services, in May, the São Paulo government projected the collection of R$3.4 billion in grants and investments in the order of R$350 million during the 15-year period of the concession. It is also planned to pay a minimum grant of R$260 million to the State until the contract is signed.

The grant resources will be directed to actions aimed at assistance and reducing social vulnerability in São Paulo, covering various services such as, for example, public health.

According to the state government, these investments include management and operation systems for physical and virtual lottery modalities, in addition to the implementation of physical points of sale. International certifications will be required to guarantee the availability, security and reliability of the system.