The dream of online gambling operators to receive a license in Brazil may become reality. The regulations concerning online gambling in Brazil are not official yet, but active discussions are taking place in the Senate, which is the first step towards legalizing online gambling. However, it might take a few years for that to happen, as the country has a slow bureaucratic way of accepting new legislation.
A Long Way Ahead
It all started when the Brazilian representative of the Senate – Mr. Ciro Nogueira, submitted a proposal for an online gambling bill two months ago. His reasoning was that the Government will only make matters worse, if it follows the approach of prohibiting all gambling activities in the country.
He explained that having a ban on gambling will not make Brazilians stop gambling. It will actually make them more resilient and creative in finding a way around the prohibitions. He is eager to show his fellow Senators the positive outcomes of partially accepting and, therefore, controlling and earning profits from online gambling industry, which now goes on despite the current laws. Mr. Nogueira said that ‘current anti-gambling legislation did not stop gambling in Brazil and today’s clandestine market moves more than R$18 billion (approximately $8 billion) every year.’
The idea that the government can tap into the massive financial revenues of online gambling and make it a legal industry has made Noguiera one of the strongest supporters of legalizing online gambling. Research conducted in the field of online gambling shows that Brazil can earn around $7 billion each year from tax revenues.
Mr. Nogueira’s draft bill was discussed last week by the Commission for Regional Development and Tourism and the discussion evoked further questions and interest, meaning the conversation is to continue further and possibly to lead to the approval of the bill.
Bureaucratic Obstacles
The assessment of the bill made it clear that in order for it to pass, other bills must also be approved, as some of the clauses in it require the Brazilian legislation to be changed. This on its own makes the bill a probable bureaucratic disaster. And this is not the only issue that slows the passing of the bill.
The Government of Brazil has a very slow process when it analyzes the pros and cons of a bill. If the bill goes through the Senatorial Commission for Regional Development and Tourism, it then must be viewed by a number of other commissions such as those of Information Technologies, Science, Innovation, etc.
After all those commissions give their approval, the bill is given to the Brazilian President for inspection. Only the President has the authority to decide whether the bill is to be officially accepted or not.
