The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has enforced a formal ban on betting among those benefitting from social welfare programmes such as Bolsa Família in Brazil.
Last November, the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil upheld an emergency measure to ban gambling using social welfare proceeds.
Then in April, SPA chief Regis Dudena confirmed the ban was incoming. However, legal assessments of measures were needed before any ordinance could be published in order to formally introduce the total ban.
On Wednesday, the SPA published Normative Ordinance No 2,217/2025 and Normative Instruction No 22, regulating the participation of beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família and Continuous Benefit Payment programmes in fixed-odds betting.
Notably, the ban completely prohibits social welfare beneficiaries from betting – something that goes beyond the initial ban on betting with direct social welfare proceeds.
Dudena believes the ban will protect Brazilians from betting beyond their means, noting in a Wednesday statement: “To ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, it was necessary to develop a robust technical tool, carefully ensuring that the measure guaranteed the protection of the rights involved.
“Protecting citizens, their security, their rights and their personal data are always objectives of the Brazilian government.”
Dudena had previously warned the ban on just the use of social welfare proceeds for betting would be difficult to implement.
It was reported by the National Secretariat of Citizen Income (Senarc) that only 1% of Bolsa Família households use the programme’s physical card. The other 99% rely on the linked online bank account, which can also receive wages and other payments.
How will the ban work?
A database of those receiving benefits from social welfare programmes has been created. Operators must consult the database during their checks, referencing player registrations and logins.
Additionally, betting operators must also consult Sigap, Brazil’s betting management system, to crosscheck bettors’ Individual Taxpayer Registry numbers to verify which users are included in the database of social welfare beneficiaries.
This process must be carried out at least every 15 days for all users registered in an operator’s betting system.
If they are included on the database, operators must block their registration, close their account and return any deposited amounts to the account holder.
The rules came into effect with the publication of Normative Ordinance No 2,217/2025 on Wednesday. Operators have up to 30 days to implement the ban.
Responsible gaming ordinance amended to include ban
In enforcing the measure, the SPA amended Normative Ordinance No 1,231, published on 31 July 2024, relating to responsible gambling regulations in Brazil.
Before closing a bettor’s account, operators must inform the user of the ban via email, messaging applications, SMS or other available means within one day of receiving confirmation from Sigap.
The operator must also inform the user they are able to voluntarily withdraw their funds within one day of the consultation, with a further two-day period allocated for the withdrawal.
If unclaimed within 180 days, the money will go to the Student Financing Fund and the National Fund for Public Calamities, Protection and Civil Defence.
If a user’s CPF number is removed from the Prohibited Persons Module on Sigap, they will once again be allowed to bet.
However, operators are prohibited from any targeted advertising or directly notifying such users about the possibility of readmission into their betting systems.
Beyond the 30-day limit for implementation of the ban, operators have 45 days from the Normative Instruction’s publication to cross-reference its list of registered bettors with Sigap’s prohibited list for the first time.
Any operators failing to comply with the ban will face the sanctions outlined in previous ordinances.
These could include licence terminations or suspensions. Additionally, they could face a fine of between 0.1% and 20% of their proceeds over the year prior to proceedings starting. This fine cannot exceed BRL2 billion.
Bolsa Família ban splits opinion
The ban has certainly been divisive in Brazil.
For instance, the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) sent a note to the SPA in October, taking issue with the complete ban on social welfare beneficiaries from betting.
According to the ANJL, this contradicts the Supreme Court’s initial decision on the matter, which only banned users from betting with their welfare proceeds, rather than banning them from gambling entirely.
Luiz Felipe Maia, founding partner of Brazilian law firm Maia Yoshiyasu Advogados, previously told iGB the ban could infringe upon the civil rights of Brazilians.
“What we’re saying is ‘Okay, if I am in a situation where I need welfare, I cannot decide where I’m going to spend my money, so I have limited freedom’,” Felipe Maia said.
“Either you give them stamps and say, ‘Okay, these stamps are for food and you can only use those for food’, or you’re giving them money and you’re allowing them to decide what they’re going to do with that money.”
Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, also warned that while the ban is well intentioned, it could lead to increased black market activity.
“There may be some who say, frankly, you should spend money on what you want,” Birkin told iGB. “But if you’ve been given benefits for a certain reason, then that’s it.
“But this idea that they can stop them betting; unless they’re able to really go down to restricting almost what they can spend it on [and say] you cannot spend it with a legal betting operator, they’re just spending with the illegal ones.”
However, the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) has thrown its support behind the ban, believing it’s another step in the right direction of protecting vulnerable people in Brazil.
The SPA has given operators 30 days to close the accounts of those receiving social welfare from the Bolsa Família and Continuous Benefit Payment programmes. However, some believe the ban is too harsh and could lead to more players entering the black market to bet.