Procon de Florianópolis notifies Caixa Econômica of the minimum amount charged for online guesses

Caixa Econômica Federal was notified by Procon of Florianópolis for making a sale with a minimum order of R$ 30 in guesses made in their lotteries. In this way, the Santa Catarina body points out that Caixa is committing an abusive practice by carrying out "tie sale" according to the Consumer Protection Code. With this, Caixa will need to provide clarification and adopt a new approach to the offers present in its application.

This is the second time in less than a month that the Caixa is notified for the same reason. This is because Procon do Amazonas also notified the lottery for the same reasons, also requesting the immediate readjustment of the offers present in the digital channels of the financial institution.

Today, the consumer who intends to place a bet through the Caixa website or application, needs to make a bet of at least R$30, with this, the user is obliged to buy more than one betting ticket. Since this minimum order does not occur in transactions carried out in lottery houses, where the player can, for example, purchase a Mega-Sena ticket for R$4,50, but there are also other alternatives for guesses from R$2,50 .

Taking into account the facts presented, the lawsuit filed against Caixa claims that the financial institution has carried out an abusive practice that is prohibited by the Consumer Protection Code, which prohibits the supplier from conditioning the negotiation of one of its services or products to the purchase of another one of your products/services, without the customer's desire. What is commonly called a “tie sale”.

According to the municipal secretary of Citizen Defense of Florianópolis, they have already notified iFood for a similar reason not long ago and are now doing the same thing with Caixa. Since the "tie sale" is an action that harms the consumer, and Procon is always inspecting companies so that they adhere to the rules presented in the Consumer Defense Code.

Fortunately, currently in the country there is a huge variety of digital options where consumers can make their guesses. An example are the betting sites that accept pix, who, knowing Brazilians well, started to adopt one of the most used payment methods in the country, also offering exclusive promotions, so that the user's balance earns much more, in addition to tips and strategies to improve performance in the world of guesses.

Prizes left in lotteries

Believe it or not, since 2015, more than R$2,5 billion in prizes have not been redeemed by guessers in Caixa's lotteries. These prizes refer to Mega-Sena, Quina, Lotofácil, Dupla-Sena, Loteca and Lotomania draws. In 2021 alone, at least R$586,8 million were “forgotten”. In addition, only one player failed to redeem R$162,2 million from the state bank.

This bet in question was made at the 2020 Mega da Vidada, but the lucky one left his jackpot at the financial institution and never went to redeem it. At the time, the lucky man, whose name was never disclosed, still went in search of the São Paulo Procon, to try to recover the prize, but he was unable to receive the amount. That's because, the player took more than 90 days after the draw to look for Caixa Econômica Federal and demand their prize.

The amounts referring to the prizes that are not redeemed by the winners are transferred in full to the Fies (Student Financing Fund). Despite being uncommon, not going to redeem the prizes in the lotteries occurs all over the planet, not being a Tupiniquim exclusivity. In the UK, a couple lost a ticket in 2001 that was valued at more than €3 million.