The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has extended the deadline for betting operators in Brazil to comply with the ban on betting among social welfare beneficiaries by 30 days.
On 30 September, the SPA published Normative Ordinance No 2,217/2025 and Normative Instruction No 22, completely banning beneficiaries of social welfare programmes such as Bolsa Família from participating in fixed-odds betting.
This followed a November 2024 Supreme Federal Court ruling which upheld an emergency measure to ban gambling with social welfare proceeds.
Operators were given 30 days to comply by closing the accounts of those receiving social welfare from the Bolsa Família and Continuous Benefit Payment programmes.
But with the deadline set to expire, the SPA has moved to extend the timeframe allowed for operators to comply.
No detail has been given as to why the deadline has been extended by the SPA.
Study warns of migration to black market
Following the formal publication of the ban, SPA chief Regis Dudena voiced his confidence that the prohibition would prevent vulnerable Brazilians from betting beyond their means.
However, many in the sector warned those receiving social welfare would still bet, just via the black market.
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has been one trade body to express its displeasure with the ban, particularly as it went against 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.
In an ANJL-commissioned study shared with BNL Data, it was found 45% of social welfare beneficiaries plan to migrate to the black market to gamble when the ban comes in.
Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, previously warned this could happen, despite the good intentions of the ban.
“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.”
The divisive ban on betting among social welfare beneficiaries was formally announced in late September.