The progress of the concession of Lotex, the famous instant lottery that the Federal Government is adopting as a test to release the gaming segment in the national territory, has been stalled since the winning company made demands to execute the agreement.
Also known as scratch cards, Lotex is the category in which the player readily knows if he has won any prize. The official expectation is that it can move more than 15 billion years, while the government conserves about 16.7% of gross revenue.
The auction took place in the second half of last year and was won by the consortium Estrela Instantânea, composed of IGT Global Services (English) and Scientific Games Corporation (American).
According to Folha de São Paulo, the result was celebrated by the Minister of Economy, who needed to suspend competition on five occasions.
Thereafter, the winners requested demands not included in the notice to Minister Paulo Guedes in order to continue the process.
Companies demand a deal with Caixa for operation
The most recent order came last month, when the companies told Guedes that they would not proceed with the proceedings if Caixa Econômica Federal did not accept an agreement to offer the lottery chain to sell tickets.
With this arrangement, companies would facilitate the entire operation, since it would not be necessary to develop a new network of alternative points of sale throughout Brazil.
The network managed by Caixa has 13 thousand points, one fifth of the 65 thousand sales units established in the business presented by BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).
Therefore, the companies have already concluded their talks with Caixa about the contract and are waiting for a vote by the bank’s board of directors, as well as a position by the Board. Nothing has happened yet.
Among the requirements to win the Lotex concession is an investment of at least 200 million of the winners, to bear the first installment of the license and to erase B3 and BNDES for the services performed.
Lotex concession process
There are professionals who monitor the entire process and indicate that, for the state bank, the partnership could result in a new source of revenue.
Since the state institution would receive part of the collection, as well as the lottery owners. Caixa interrupted Lotex’s operation when the Federal Comptroller General identified that the bank did not have the necessary legal support.
The option for the concession occurred in the government of Michel Temer with the first auction attempt in the middle of 2018. The lack of interested parties led to its suspension.
Last year, only two companies showed willingness to take over the operation. Therefore, the two parties ended up associating in a joint offer.
According to the notice, companies may be punished for any non-compliance with the contact, which includes the loss of the guarantee value of the offer of R $ 25 million.