Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has formally implemented rules preventing beneficiaries of the Novo Desenrola Brasil programme from placing bets. The measure was published in the Federal Official Gazette through Ordinance No. 1,237 and a related Regulatory Directive No. 3.
The new framework requires licensed betting and online gambling operators to stop eligible programme beneficiaries from opening accounts and to suspend existing accounts if a registered customer is later identified as ineligible to gamble.
Updated legal basis for the restriction
Ordinance No. 1,237 revises an earlier SPA regulation so it aligns with Provisional Measure No. 1,355/2026. That provisional measure barred participants in the Extraordinary Family Financial Rebalancing Program from engaging in fixed-odds betting.
The restriction applies specifically to beneficiaries whose new credit agreement is backed by the Operations Guarantee Fund created under Law No. 12,087/2009.
The updated ordinance also reinforces existing restrictions covering:
- people prohibited from betting by specific administrative or court decision after formal notice;
- beneficiaries of Bolsa Família; and
- recipients of the Continuous Cash Transfer Benefit.
Operators must verify customer status in Sigap
Under Regulatory Directive No. 3, operators must use Sigap, Brazil’s Betting Management System, to determine whether a user appears in the database of ineligible persons linked to the Novo Desenrola Brasil programme.
These checks must follow the procedures set out in the Ineligible Persons Module Manual. Operators are required to verify status:
- when a customer opens an account;
- on the first login of each day; and
- at additional periodic intervals required by SPA rules.
Sigap will return one of two results:
Ineligible – Novo Desenrola Brasil Programme, when the taxpayer identification number appears in the ineligible database.
Not Ineligible, when no such match is found.
Suspension and refund deadlines
If the system identifies a user as ineligible on their first login of the day, the operator must suspend the account within three days of that query.
Before suspension takes effect, the operator must notify the customer of the reason and allow them to withdraw any remaining balance.
If the user does not remove the funds voluntarily, the operator must return the balance within two days, using one of the deposit or payment accounts already registered by the customer on the platform.
If a user identified as a Novo Desenrola beneficiary still has open bets, those wagers must be cancelled and fully refunded.
Communication and record-keeping duties
Operators must keep a documented record of all communications with affected users, including the date, time, delivery channel and message content. These records must be retained for at least five years.
If the operator cannot complete a refund transfer, including because of payment account problems, lack of customer contact, or refusal by the user to provide valid account details, the operator must:
maintain proper accounting records for the outstanding funds; and
continue making reasonable efforts to contact the user so the money can be sent to an account in the user’s name at a financial institution authorised by Brazil’s Central Bank.
Implementation timetable
Betting operators have up to 10 days to put the directive’s procedures into effect and up to 15 days to begin consulting the Sigap Ineligible Persons Module.
The rules show the Brazilian regulator is moving from broad legal restrictions to operational enforcement, placing direct compliance duties on platforms to identify affected users, suspend access quickly and ensure balances are returned properly.
