In Brazil, CADE opens investigation against Caixa for measures against online lottery

The investigation was launched in 2023 after a complaint was sent to the agency by the then Aidiglot (Association of Digital Lottery Games Intermediaries), now Aigaming. It complained about alleged judicial and administrative measures on the part of Caixa and the Brazilian Federation of Lottery Companies (Febralot), characterised, in the association's view, as an abuse of the right to petition (sham litigation), an anti-competitive smear campaign and a restriction on competition.

In a technical note drawn up by CADE, the accusation of sham litigation - filing lawsuits in court without any grounds - was dismissed.

However, the agency's experts understood that the investigation pointed to ‘the existence of strong indications that Caixa and Febralot were, in a joint and coordinated manner, abusing their respective regulatory and union representation powers to prevent lottery units, accredited by Caixa and responsible for registering bettors' games, from signing contracts with lottery game intermediation platforms or in any way carrying out business aimed at registering bets placed through such platforms.’

De-accreditation
According to the analysis, one example is the way Caixa and Febralot combat sites "that use Caixa Lotteries illegally", with "the identification and de-accreditation of Lottery Units that register bets". The analysis carried out revealed that these measures have no valid economic justification, in fact, they only promote the direct limitation of competition and discourage innovation, the technical note described.

"This concern is reinforced and the harmful impact of such practices is demonstrated by the fact that the defendants (Caixa and Febralot) have not limited themselves to seeking to influence and control the behaviour of the Lottery Units, having sent letters to different private agents who have announced partnerships with different intermediation platforms, which would even have justified the requests for termination of the partnerships signed."

The document concluded that there is clear evidence of anti-competitive practice by adopting "a series of administrative/extrajudicial measures that would have the sole purpose of making it impossible to provide lottery intermediation services."

Febralot is also a target of the lawsuit.

Cade's general superintendent, Alexandre Barreto de Souza, agreed with the experts' assessment, opened administrative proceedings and gave Caixa and Febralot a month to present their defences.