MPs approved this Friday, in a final global vote, a diploma that makes the sale of lotteries and scratch cards at post offices contingent on government approval, while CTT has a concession to the universal postal service.
The bill passed with positive votes from all parties except for Chega and the Liberal Initiative who voted against, with text establishing that this restriction on the sale of lottery and instant lottery tickets (known as scratch cards) “becomes effective January 1, 2024” .
The text approved this Friday is the result of a bill submitted by Livre with final wording voted on to determine that “the activity of selling lottery and instant lottery tickets at post offices during the term of the Universal Postal Service Concession is subject to government permission “.
On February 10, during a debate in Parliament, Infrastructure Minister Joao Galamba announced that CTT would stop selling scratch cards, a decision in line with Livre’s proposal.
“The leadership of the current CTT administration will stop using the CTT network to sell scratch cards and dedicate itself to exactly what Mr. Rui Tavares said he would like CTT to do, which the government would also like CTT to do, and good the news is that the current CTT administration has the same vision,” Joao Galamba emphasized during the same debate.
The Universal Postal Service (SPU) concession contract was renewed by direct agreement with CTT in early 2022 for a period of seven years.
Parliament also approved the final text of the diploma resulting from the Livre project, which aims to strengthen consumer rights by prohibiting the forced renewal of services or equipment that have not yet expired.
The initiative was approved with an abstention from Chege and positive votes from other parties.