(AsiaGameHub) –   On Tuesday, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) released Ordinance No. 1,237 in the Federal Official Gazette, establishing regulations that prohibit participants in the Novo Desenrola Brasil program from placing bets.

Regulatory Directive No. 3 was also issued, mandating that operators block new registrations for anyone joining the program and suspend the accounts of existing bettors. Users are expected to request a refund of their account balance; if they do not, the gambling company must return the funds within two days of determining the player’s ineligibility.

Administrative Order No. 1,237 modifies the agency’s prior document (No. 1,231/2024) to align with the requirements of Provisional Measure No. 1,355/2026, which bans fixed-odds betting for those enrolled in the Extraordinary Family Financial Rebalancing Program.

This ban applies to recipients whose new loan agreements are backed by the Operations Guarantee Fund, created under Law No. 12,087 of 2009.

The Ordinance further updates the betting restrictions to include “persons barred from betting by a specific administrative or judicial decision, upon formal notification” (subclause VII) and beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família Programme and the Continuous Cash Transfer Benefit (subclause VIII).

Directive mandates platforms to check if a customer is a Novo Desenrola Brasil program beneficiary

The SPA also released Regulatory Directive No. 3, requiring sports betting and online gambling firms to stop Novo Desenrola Brasil beneficiaries from registering or using their platforms. A specific regulation will be issued later, detailing technical requirements, deadlines, and a transition period. Operators must adhere to procedures that prevent individuals subject to these new restrictions from accessing the gambling system.

Operators are required to consult the Betting Management System (Sigap) to confirm if a user is listed in the Novo Desenrola Brasil beneficiary database. These checks must be performed in accordance with the rules outlined in the Ineligible Persons Module Manual.

Sigap checks must be conducted when opening an account and during the first login of each day. Periodic checks are also required, in line with other SPA regulations.

The Sigap query will return the following information:

I – “Ineligible – Novo Desenrola Brasil Programme,” if the individual’s taxpayer ID appears in the Ineligible Persons Module database as a program beneficiary; or

II – “Not Ineligible”, if the ID is not found in the Ineligible Persons Module database.

Account suspension required within 3 days

If the system returns the message “Ineligible – Novo Desenrola Brasil Programme” during the first daily login, the operator must suspend the account within three days of the query date.

Prior to suspension, the operator must notify the user of the reason for the action, allowing the user to withdraw any available funds.

If the bettor does not withdraw the funds voluntarily, the bookmaker must refund the amount within two days by transferring it to a deposit or payment account registered by the customer on the platform.

Mandatory communication with the customer

Operators must document all interactions with the user, including the date, time, channel used, and message content, and retain this data for at least five years.

If the funds cannot be transferred—due to issues with the user’s deposit or payment account, an inability to contact the user, or the user’s refusal to provide account details—the betting operator must:

I – maintain accounting records of the funds; and

II – make every effort to contact the user to obtain details for a deposit or payment account in their name at an institution authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil, to facilitate the transfer of owed funds.

Once a user is identified as a Novo Desenrola Brasil beneficiary with outstanding bets, the operator must cancel those bets and issue a full refund.

Operators have 10 days to implement the procedures outlined in the Regulatory Directive and 15 days to begin consulting the Sigap Ineligible Persons Module.