Brazilian Court orders lottery outlet to refund betting error

A court in the Brazilian state of Pará has ordered a lottery outlet in Marabá to refund BR700 ($129) to a customer after an error in the registration of a Mega da Virada bet.

The ruling was issued by the Civil and Criminal Small Claims Court of the Marabá district and found that the lottery shop failed to provide the service requested by the consumer.

According to the case, the customer asked to participate in a Mega da Virada betting pool but the wager was mistakenly registered as a standard Mega-Sena bet.

Mega-Sena is Brazil's main national lottery, run by the state-owned bank Caixa, with regular draws held throughout the year.

Mega da Virada is a special Mega-Sena draw held once a year on New Year's Eve, featuring a significantly larger prize pool and a key difference: the jackpot does not roll over.

If no ticket matches all six numbers, the prize is shared among lower-tier winners, making it one of the most anticipated and heavily played lottery events in the country.

The customer noticed the error while still at the lottery outlet and requested a refund at two different counters, which was denied.

In its defence, the lottery shop argued that the mistake was the customer's responsibility and claimed there was no failure in service or grounds for compensation.

The court rejected this argument, stating that service providers are responsible for ensuring bets are correctly registered, particularly when dealing with different lottery modalities.

The judge ruled that the outlet failed to present sufficient evidence that the service had been properly executed or that the error was solely attributable to the customer.

The refusal to issue a refund, combined with the incorrect registration, was deemed a service defect.

While the request for moral damages was denied, the court ordered the lottery outlet to reimburse the BR700 wager, with monetary correction and interest applied.

The decision may still be appealed.