Pacheco will impose restrictions on online betting after elections

The president of the Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), stated that he intends to set restrictions for online betting after the first round of municipal elections. Congress has seen urgency in addressing the issue due to the exponential growth in betting among the Brazilian population.

“Something needs to be done. We will evaluate project options right after the first round, in a meeting of leaders that will be scheduled,” said Rodrigo Pacheco in an interview with the newspaper The Globe.

The so-called “Bets” were “legalized” in 2018, but the law determined that regulation should be carried out within two years, which has not yet happened. President Lula’s government has defended the regulation of these platforms with the intention of containing the debt of the poorest.

Technical note from the Central Bank revealed that Brazilians’ average monthly spending on betting surpassed the R$20 billion mark. The same survey also showed that Bolsa Família beneficiaries bet around R$3 billion on online games via Pix in just one month.

In the Chamber, there are proposals to change the regulation of online betting by parties such as Podemos, PDT, PP, União Brasil and PT. The same topic also gains attention from the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Last week, minister Luiz Fux called a public hearing to discuss the “Bets law”, which regulates these bets.

Websites are expected to crash in the next few days

This Monday (30), the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated in a radio interview CBN that the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) must take down around 500 to 600 websites due to lack of compliance with regulations.

Ordinance published by the Treasury provides that, from this Tuesday (1st), fixed quota betting companies that have not requested authorization to operate in Brazil, would have their activities suspended.