Proposal to adjust the rules for Brazilians' access to virtual gambling

Senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS) criticised the delay in the regulation of the 2018 law that initiated the liberalisation of ‘fixed odds betting’, which only came in 2023 with Law 14.790, of 2023.

At the CPI hearing, she said the legislature still needs to create new rules to reduce Brazilians' access to virtual betting. "This sector includes sports betting and ‘online games’ that resemble casinos, such as the so-called Jogo do Tigrinho.
‘We have to make access to virtual gambling more and more difficult. We are doing a mea-culpa. We have to legislate to minimise the risks and harms of this activity. Now we are here learning and changing the wheel with the car in motion, because it is a new world for all of us," said Soraya.

The CPI heard testimony from a former gambler who overcame his addiction, André Rolim. He recounted the damage he suffered from gambling and argued that access to gambling needs to be restricted. The aim of the college is to investigate the impact of online gambling on the financial health of families.

Preventive Gambling Advertising

To prevent gambling addiction, Rolim argued that regulations should set a maximum time that users can gamble and stricter rules for gambling advertisements, with sponsorships of events or celebrities. However, Rolim said no restriction would be enough to prevent him from gambling when he was still addicted four years ago.

‘I don't think there is any policy that would have stopped me. The addict, when he is active, will do anything [to gamble]. He cheats, he gets away with it. It's a bit delusional to think that we're going to stop a person who has access to money from being able to stop gambling.’

For Senator Damares Alves (Republican-DF), advertisements should also be restricted. He believes that widespread advertising of gambling harms gamblers.

Damares is the rapporteur of bill 3563/2024, which bans advertising and sponsorship in the sector.
For her part, Soraya criticised cases reported by Rolim of offers of benefits to promote regular gambling, such as ‘bonuses’ and airline tickets to places famous for their casinos, such as Las Vegas in the United States.

Facilitate

In response to Senator Izalci Lucas (PL-DF), Rolim said that gambling in a physical location - which is generally a crime - poses more barriers for the gambler than in a digital environment. Even in the virtual environment it was more difficult to gamble in previous years, according to the guest.

Izalci questioned the effectiveness of current regulations, which already prohibit addicts from gambling virtually, as well as providing for treatment and prevention programmes for mental disorders funded by the Ministry of Health with 1% of the proceeds from the fixed odds lottery.

Requests Approved 

Senators approved four requests for the federal government to send information and documents, including confidential ones, about individuals and companies under investigation by the CPI, such as Playflow Procesadora de Pagamentos. 
Two other requests summon representatives of the companies Pinbank Brasil and Brax Produção e Publicidade to testify before the CPI.

Previous meeting

The CPI also met last Tuesday (18) to hear lawyer Adélia de Jesus Soares as a witness. According to Soraya, responsible for the subpoena (REQ 396/2025), Adélia is being investigated by the police for allegedly collaborating with a foreign company to illegally operate gambling.

Adélia is expected to return to the ICC to answer further questions from senators, according to Senator Dr Hiran (PP-RR), president of the collegiate body. During the meeting, she avoided answering several questions due to the secrecy surrounding her work as a lawyer and the police investigation.

Senators also approved, on the same Tuesday (18), an invitation to the president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, to explain (REQ 396/2025) the agency's role in regulating and supervising gambling.

By Agência Senado