PL 5.477 creates five new crimes linked to gambling
The administrative ban is already in effect. What was missing was the penal arm, and the Government sent it to Congress on the same day: PL 5.477/2026, presented on September 25, amends Law No. 13,756/2018 to criminalize five distinct behaviors related to fixed-odds betting.
The highest penalty applies to the operator. Four to six years in prison plus a fine for anyone who exploits fixed-odds betting. The same penalty applies to anyone who offers, receives, registers, processes, or acts as an intermediary for them, and to anyone who maintains premises, websites, applications, or any other channel set up for this purpose.
The other four criminal offenses share a range of two to four years. The first is advertising: disseminating, promoting, or marketing that encourages betting falls under this, as does capturing or recruiting people, referring them, recommending them, and also sponsoring, promoting, or monetizing such content. The second targets data: providing a database, transmitting it, selling it, segmenting it, or enriching it to attract bettors or to direct advertisements to them. The penalty increases by half if that database reveals someone's betting history, how much they played, how much they lost, any indication of gambling disorder, or if the data belongs to children and adolescents.
The third targets money. Authorizing a payment, processing it, settling it, safeguarding it, or intermediating prizes knowing where the money comes from or where it goes falls under this category, with an aggravating factor of one-third to one-half if the nature of the transactions is concealed, third parties are used, or funds are sent abroad. The text clarifies that the bettor is exempt from this rule when paying their own bet or collecting their own prize.
The fourth goes against technical infrastructure. Making an application available, licensing it, hosting it, distributing it, or maintaining it, as well as programs or systems for betting, knowing their purpose, with the same aggravating factor if the app conceals its purpose, evades age or location verification, or directly targets minors.
The text also increases the penalty when the bet involves a virtual online gaming event, a category that includes slots. And it makes an explicit exception: anything published for journalistic, informational, or educational purposes, as well as academic work, scientific production, and criticism on the subject, is outside the penal scope.
In its rationale, the Executive explains the criterion. The penalties were distributed according to the nature of each action, and the idea of criminalizing all these behaviors is to be able to confront the different means used to sustain the activity, even in the digital realm.
It is important not to confuse the two instruments. MP No. 1,394/2026, also published on September 25, has the force of law from that day and must be analyzed by Congress within 60 days, extendable by another 60. PL 5.477/2026 does not yet create any crime: it must pass through the Chamber of Deputies, then the Senate, and finally receive presidential sanction. The Government requested urgent processing on Monday, the 28th.
This separation is not a procedural whim but a constitutional obligation. Article 62 of the Brazilian Constitution expressly prohibits a provisional measure from addressing criminal, criminal procedural, or civil procedural matters. That is why an MP could prohibit the activity at an administrative level, but it could not create crimes: for that, a law from Congress is necessary.
Tags: PL 5.477/2026, betting-related crimes, Law 13.756/2018, urgent procedure