Brazil advances with a new bill to tackle problem gambling
The debate on consumer protection returns to the center of the legislative agenda in Brazil. Federal deputy José Guimarães presented Bill No. 5,817/2025, a proposal that seeks to establish the National Strategy to Combat Gambling Addiction, strengthening measures for prevention, control, and treatment of problematic gambling in the country.
New obligations for operators
The text proposes that fixed-odds betting companies implement a series of preventive mechanisms, including:
- Formal complaint channels related to compulsive behaviors.
- Risk analysis tools to detect patterns of problematic gambling.
- Systems for automatic exclusion, personalized alerts, and weekly messages with reminders about loss limits.
Additionally, users will be able to set spending limits, configure time restrictions, and access remote self-exclusion processes. The project also aims to promote scientific research to improve early detection methods for gambling addiction.
The proposal still needs to pass through the committees determined by the Chamber of Deputies, with no defined timeline for its discussion.
Connection with the new SPA regulations
The legislative initiative arrives at a time when the Ministry of Finance, through the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), has just updated the sector’s regulation. The new regulation establishes:
- A dual self-exclusion system, with one mode directly before each operator and another centralized, managed by the SPA.
- Obligation for operators to offer immediate access to the official self-exclusion platform.
- Mandatory implementation of financial and time limits, configured by the user themselves.
- Absolute prohibition of credits, advances, or financing by betting houses.
Operators have 90 days to adapt their systems, updating registration flows, protection mechanisms, and mandatory links to the centralized self-exclusion. Once this period ends, all users must revalidate their personal and tax information to continue operating on authorized platforms.
A stricter framework in a growing market
The presentation of Guimarães’ project confirms the regulatory trend in Brazil: greater control, more responsibility, and higher standards for operators and platforms. As the regulated ecosystem grows, political and social pressure also increases for the country to advance with player protection policies similar to those already operating in mature markets such as the United Kingdom, Spain, or Australia.
Tags: Brazil, Brazil betting regulation, problematic gaming Brazil, compulsive gambling Brazil