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The Justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), Luiz Fux, cancelled the conciliation hearing that would have taken place next Tuesday, the 10th, between the federal government and representatives for regulated betting operators. Their meeting was going to debate the controversial blocking of the betting accounts of Bolsa Família beneficiaries, Brazil’s main social assistance program.
This cancellation effectively extends the practical effects of a previous order in December by Fux, which suspended an order from the Ministry of Finance that prohibited people receiving federal social assistance from placing bets on regulated platforms.
Fux signed the cancellation on Monday, the 2nd, citing a scheduling conflict with a session of the Second Panel of the Supreme Court. The justice joined the Second Panel at the end of last year after voluntarily leaving the First Panel of the STF.
Background of the Ministry of Finance’s Order
It ordered the entirety of licensed betting operators last October to purge from their databases all those users who were beneficiaries of Bolsa Família or Continuous Cash Benefit. The government put together a list of CPFs, citizen individual tax identification numbers belonging to recipients of one or both of the programs that, through an operation, would block their access to betting services.
According to an estimate by betting companies, as reported by Coluna do Estadão, 20% of the users were supposed to be removed from regulated betting platforms.
The measure formed part of a wider governmental attempt to ban the spending of social welfare money on gambling activities, after earlier judicial and political debates gave rise to concerns about the social impact of betting.
Suspension of the Order and Legal Challenge
Justice Fux suspended the measure two months after the Ministry’s determination, in response to a request filed by the National Association of Games and Lotteries. The determination of the Ministry exceeded the understanding set out by the STF plenary in 2024, when the Court called for measures against the misuse of the funds from social programs in betting without explicitly authorizing the blanket exclusion of beneficiaries from gambling.
As per the entity, this interpretation provided by the Ministry created operational and legal issues that went beyond what the Court had established before.
Ongoing Legal and Regulatory Uncertainty
On canceling the hearing and sustaining the suspension, the matter has been left unaddressed and is continuing to create legal, regulatory, and operational uncertainty for the government and licensed operators alike.
The question now becomes, in substance, how the policies of social protection balance individual rights with access to regulated services and the extent to which preventive measures can be imposed by the government without exceeding constitutional and legal limits. The new date of the conciliation hearing has not been defined yet, leaving the matter pending further judicial and regulatory elucidation.
Source: iGaming Brasil
