Rio de Janeiro defends VLT regulation and video lottery betting rules in court

Rio de Janeiro’s state government has defended Decree No. 49.804/2025, which sets the operating rules for physical lottery betting terminals, including Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs). For PSPs and acquirers, the interesting part is not the politics: it is the stack of controls the state wants tied to each transaction, device, and bettor.

1. On Wednesday, 29/7, acting governor Ricardo Couto de Castro signed Official Letter No. 91/2026-GG and sent it to Judge Gizelda Leitão Teixeira of the Special Body of the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice. The letter was filed in response to a constitutional challenge against the decree, in Case No. 3009435-34.2026.8.19.0000, brought by the State Attorney General.
2. The challenged decree, issued on 18 August 2025, sets technical and operational requirements for lottery products offered through physical equipment in the state. The list includes Video Lottery Terminals, kiosks, betting terminals, and Smart POS devices. In other words: this is not just a licensing note, it is a rulebook for how money and identity have to move through the terminal.
3. Among the key obligations for companies accredited by the Loteria do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (LOTERJ) are facial biometric authentication with a second verification factor, mandatory integration with a bettor registry based on Know Your Customer (KYC), and exclusive processing of financial transactions via Pix linked to the bettor’s CPF. That structure makes the payment rail part of the compliance model, not a side detail.
4. The decree also explicitly bans slot machines, parallel draw devices, and any terminals with a locally embedded random number generator that have not been approved by LOTERJ. Advertising is restricted by responsible-gaming rules that prohibit appeals to vulnerable audiences.
5. Before operations can begin, accredited companies must submit their equipment to a Proof of Concept (PoC) and provide certifications from internationally recognized bodies, including GLI-11 to GLI-33 and ISO 27001, 27701, 9001, and 37001. All terminal interactions must be logged in an auditable system, with monthly consolidated reporting to LOTERJ and real-time access to the authority’s control dashboard.

The state government says its legal argument relies on a precedent from the Supreme Federal Court and that the decree does not create a new game format, but only regulates lottery operations in Rio de Janeiro. For providers looking at high-risk verticals, the practical takeaway is straightforward: if a terminal-based gaming model reaches market here, compliance will be built around identity, device certification, audit logs, and Pix-linked settlement from day one.