Haddad says irregular bets will go offline in 10 days

This Tuesday (1), the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, issued an alert for bettors to check their balances at bookmakers within 10 days. At the end of this period, according to the minister, the bets that do not comply with the regulations will go offline.

“Those who have not requested accreditation will not be able to operate from now on. It will be 10 days [de prazo para encerrar atividades]. These 10 days are more for the bettor than for the bookmaker because there are many people who have financial resources deposited with the bookmaker. So, the 10 days are for the person to check if they have a balance and ask for a refund, otherwise we will take them offline immediately, but we will not do it to protect the savings of potential bettors”, the minister told journalists.

According to Haddad, betting houses that are in the accreditation process “will be able to remain in operation in compliance with regulations and if they do not become accredited by the end of the year or do not pay the grant, they will also go offline”.

The minister reinforced that this Tuesday the government will publish the list of bets authorized to operate in the country.

Payment limitation via Pix

Haddad also said that the government is discussing with the banking sector a way to limit the payment of bets via Pix. According to the minister, the objective is to “protect families”.

According to a survey released by the Central Bank (BC) last week, the monthly volume of transfers via Pix from individuals to online betting companies varied between R$18 billion and R$21 billion this year.

BC data also shows that beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família program who place sports bets online spent R$3 billion on bets, via Pix, in August alone.

Last week, the president of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), Isaac Sidney, defended that payment with Pix for online bets be suspended.

Advertising

Haddad also said that he seeks understanding with the National Advertising Self-Regulation Council (Conar) and the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) to “take measures to avoid harassment from television and other media”.

Last week, when criticizing the regulation of betseven after working to approve the government’s proposal, the federal deputy and national president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann, said that the government underestimated “the harmful and devastating effects” generated by the regulation of gambling.

“We underestimated the harmful and devastating effects this causes to the Brazilian population. It’s as if we had opened the gates of hell, we had no idea what this could cause […] Mainly this very offensive action by gaming houses and the use of extreme advertising”, said Gleisi.