Brazil sues 17 betting licensed operators for R$1B

Federal government of Brazil has sued 17 betting operators around $190 million (R$1 billion) in collective moral damages. The federal judge gave 30 days to the government to explain lawsuit and specify “how operators caused health costs.” The suit names 20 operating brands: Betano, Bet365, Superbet, Sportingbet, Esportes da Sorte and Onabet, Blaze, Betnacional, Estrelabet, 7K and Cassino, 7Games and Betão, Vaidebet, H2 Bet, Pixbet, Novibet, Bullsbet, Betfair and KTO. All hold authorisations from the Ministry of Finance. In addition to seeking the R$1 billion benchmark for collective moral damages, the AGU is also looking for the companies to pay back SUS for the treatment of gambling-related maladies in the past five-year period and beyond. The sum in question would be finally determined at a later liquidation phase. The AGU also seeks to have the court annul the bets made by players with gambling disorder diagnoses, mandate double restitution of their costs, and declare unenforceable the clauses in contracts limiting the reimbursement. The legal issue is based on strict liability rules from the Civil Code and the Consumer Protection Code (CPC): a legal entity benefiting from a high-risk type of business is liable for any damages resulting from this type of activities performed. The AGU points to the fact that according to health statistics, 28 million Brazilians are actively betting online and specifically that around 10.9 million of them have gambling-related problems. Judge Helio Silvio Ourem Campos ordered the AGU to show which health conditions the claim covers, how patients are identified, the data sources, administrative records and systems used to verify costs.