Brazilian court rejects gambling loss case
The court ruled that the bets were placed voluntarily and dismissed the platform’s liability.
Brazil.- The 3rd Special Civil Court of Anápolis, in Goiás, dismissed a lawsuit filed against Novibet, in which a player sought the annulment of sports bets placed on the platform. The gambler had also asked the court for the return of around R$ 50,000 (€8,500) in betting losses plus R$ 10,000 (€ 1,700) in compensation for moral damages.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that he had been using the platformsince 2022, before online gambling was regulated in Brazil last year, and that a recreational habit had evolved into a case of gambling addiction, diagnosed as Gambling Disorder. According to the proceedings, the gambler claimed that the operator had been negligent in not adopting effective blocking and warning measures as provided for in responsible gambling policies.
However, Novibet’s defence argued that the bets were placed voluntarily by a legally competent adult, and maintained that the company provides control tools such as deposit limits, alerts, and self-exclusion mechanisms.
In her decision, Judge Luciana de Araújo Camapum Ribeiro initially rejected a claim of incompetence of the Special Court and ruled that there was no need for technical expertise to analyse the case. Upon analysing the merits, the magistrate noted that betting contracts are of an aleatory nature and that the risk of loss is part of the activity. The ruling also emphasised that a diagnosis of gambling addiction, in itself, does not invalidate legal transactions entered into by a legally capable person.
According to the decision, there was no proof of a failure in the provision of services by the platform, fraud, or undue retention of funds. The magistrate also stated that holding the operator responsible for the user’s financial losses could generate legal uncertainty and encourage risky behaviour among other players. As such, the court dismissed the platform’s civil liability.
The ruling also pointed out that Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1,231/2024 establishes guidelines for monitoring and responsible gaming, but does not assign operators the role of protecting the financial lives of their clients. During the reasoning, the judge cited similar decisions from the Court of Justice of São Paulo in cases involving requests for reimbursement for losses on online betting platforms, in which the understanding prevailed that the transactions occurred voluntarily.
The decision also revoked preliminary injunctions previously granted in the case.
