Online gambling in Brazil: Lula da Silva meets with senior ministers

The Brazilian president aimed to address concerns around the launch of regulated online gambling.

Brazil.- The president of Brazil, Inácio Lula da Silva, has met with senior ministers in a bid to resolve concerns about the launch of regulated online gambling from January 1. Lula met with the ministers of finance, sports, healthcare, public welfare and social development.

One of the concerns raised is that of gambling by people who receive welfare funds from the state aid program Bolsa Família. A report suggested that benefits recipients had spent BRL 3bn (€500m) on online betting platforms, according to the state-run payment system Pix.

Lula told the ministries involved to collaborate to develop controls to prohibit such welfare payments from being used for gambling. He also told the ministers to develop measures to mitigate financial risks and debt problems.

Lula is also expected to sign off on a proposal from the banking federation Febraban, the Federation of Brazilian Banks to immediately ban the use of credit cards and overdrafts for gambling. The main operator groups have already committed to ban credit card gambling transactions ahead of the launch of the regulated market.

While regulated online gambling in Brazil begins on January 1, operators active on the grey markets have been allowed to continue to operate as long as they have applied for a licence. The Ministry of Finance gave operators a deadline of October 1, after which any gambling business that has not applied for a Brazilian online gambling licence will see its operations suspended.