Brazil court: Operator must refund R$217k for RG failures
A judge in Santa Catarina ordered a betting platform to refund the full amount of funds lost by a user and to pay compensation for moral damages. The ruling determines that the absence of control mechanisms, such as loss limits and behavior monitoring, constitutes direct negligence on the part of the operator.
In a ruling that raises alarms for compliance departments in Brazil, Judge Paulo da Silva Filho, from the 1st Civil Court of Tubarão (SC), condemned the company Responsa Gamming Brasil Ltda. to return approximately R$ 217,000 to a consumer. The magistrate recognized a serious failure in the provision of the service and the violation of the Responsible Gaming standards established in current legislation.
The plaintiff demonstrated having developed pathological gambling behavior between June 2024 and February 2025, during which she allocated all her resources and incurred debts with family members and credit institutions to sustain her bets, driven by the expectation of recovering losses.
Non-compliance with Law 14.790/23 and Ordinance SPA 1.231/24
The judge based his decision on the fact that, although betting activity is lawful, the operator has the inalienable duty to mitigate foreseeable harm. The ruling highlights that both Law 14.790/23 and Ordinance SPA/MF 1.231/24 require operators to:
- Monitor atypical behaviors: Identify patterns of compulsive betting or over-indebtedness.
- Protect the vulnerable: Implement effective barriers such as loss limits and self-exclusion tools.
- Inform clearly: Warn about mental health risks and the real probabilities of loss.
In this case, the magistrate noted there was no evidence that the platform applied any of these measures. On the contrary, he determined that the company used incentives such as bonuses and aggressive advertising that encouraged the user to remain despite her successive losses.
Omission as the cause of the damage
The court applied the Consumer Defense Code (CDC), establishing that the "omission in the face of the inherent risk of the activity" reveals a service failure. According to the ruling, by not implementing systems to verify compulsive behavior, the operator acted negligently, directly contributing to the worsening of the plaintiff’s financial and emotional harm.
In addition to the full refund of R$ 217,000, the company was ordered to pay an additional R$ 10,000 for moral damages.
A warning for the regulated sector
This ruling sets a rigorous judicial standard for the first year of the regulated market in Brazil. It reinforces that judicial authorities will not hesitate to intervene if operators fail to demonstrate that they have active systems to detect pathologies, marking a before and after in the interpretation of the "duty of care" that iGaming companies must have with their user base.
Tags: Brasil, online betting Brazil, responsible gaming Brazil, responsible gaming sanctions Brazil