Brazil to Restrict Betting Access for Social Welfare Recipients
New Restrictions for Bolsa Familia and BPC Beneficiaries
Brazilian authorities are preparing strict restrictions for participants of the Bolsa Familia and BPC programs, concerning their involvement in online and offline betting. According to the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting (SPA), these measures will affect all beneficiaries, regardless of whether they use government or personal funds for betting.
The aim of the ban is to completely exclude more than 54 million people receiving aid under these programs from participating in gambling. Most of them are retirees and people with disabilities whose income is less than a quarter of the minimum wage.
How the Restriction Will Work
Betting platform operators will be required to integrate a beneficiary identification mechanism into their KYC systems. This will allow for automatic blocking of access to betting for such users.
Previous attempts to restrict only the use of social benefit cards proved ineffective — funds are now transferred to universal bank accounts, from which any type of payment can be made.
Now, the block will apply to all account holders identified as aid recipients, regardless of the source of funds in their account.
Legal Basis and Government Stance
This new measure is a response to a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil, which in late 2024 called for stronger protection of vulnerable groups from gambling-related risks. Minister Luiz Fux emphasized that the state is obliged to prevent the use of social benefits for gambling purposes.
Regis Dudena, head of the SPA, stressed that the agency is acting strictly within the law and in the interest of protecting the rights of beneficiaries. According to him, the new rules are undergoing final legal and technical review.
National Regulatory System
In addition to the ban for beneficiaries, the SPA is developing a national betting regulatory system to eliminate discrepancies in laws across different states. On April 4, a meeting was held in Brasília with representatives from all regions to discuss key areas of reform:
- Unified standards for responsible gambling
- Combating money laundering
- Fighting match-fixing
- Integrating regulatory systems at federal and regional levels
Each state was invited to identify up to three priority issues for further work.
What’s Next
The final set of regulations is expected to be published soon. The main focus will be on social protection, operator transparency, and harmonizing legislation across the country. This is especially important given the rapid growth of the online betting market, which has recently been legalized and is now regulated at the national level.