Brazilian politics is engaged in a heated debate about the dangers of gambling. Federal Deputy José Guimarius recently introduced Act No. 5,817/2025, which aims to establish a system for the identification, prevention and management of gambling addiction that covers the entire country. This is taking place at a time of continued expansion of the Brazilian lottery market, and calls for increased consumer protection for all authorized operators are increasing.
The proposal envisages a national strategy to be promoted by the health, financial and regulatory sectors, with the Brazilian Ministry of Finance taking the lead in developing a completely new advertising code to be followed by operators. For the first time, the Act places the primary responsibility for monitoring user behaviour and identifying risk patterns directly on the gaming operator, who must intervene if the risk pattern is found. According to the proposal, a fixed-rate lottery company must: establish a user-reporting channel for pathological gambling; deploy monitoring tools that can analyse the mode of betting, identify potential hazards and automatically trigger intervention; enforce the weekly loss limit alert; and configure the automatic exclusion system (effective as soon as the hazard pattern is detected or the user has initiated protection). These measures aim at closing regulatory gaps and establishing uniform national standards, regardless of the size of the platform or the number of users.
The bill gives greater control to players through a quota and self-exclusion mechanism. Players will be able to set clear consumption limits and use remote self-bargaining mechanisms. These controls are designed to function at the operational level as well as in the broader national system, which centralizes the exclusion of all licensed platforms. This programme is in line with Brazil ‘ s upcoming centralized self-bargaining system, which is scheduled to go online by 2025. The proposal also directs government agencies to strengthen scientific inputs, promote the identification of risk factors and develop scientific research focused on better early monitoring models. Legislators emphasized the importance of strengthening scientific research capacity as the Brazilian lottery market continued to develop. At present, the bill is pending before the Chamber of Deputies ‘ allocated committee, and there is no clear timetable for voting. The Brazilian regulatory reform is building a multi-level protection system, and the new bill responds to the existing provisions of the Award Pool and Lottery Secretariat (SPA). These provisions define a dual voluntary self-exclusion mechanism, one of which is directed at the operator level, while the other establishes a unified system that prevents users from visiting any authorized operator in the country. Operators must provide direct access to centralized systems and clear self-exclusion information in the registration and account management processes. Users must also be able to set daily, weekly or monthly loss limits and time limits. One of the most stringent provisions of the SPA rules, also highlighted in the new legislative proposal, is the prohibition of credit or financing to players (which the Government regards as the cornerstone for curbing high-risk behaviour). The system retrofit must be completed by the operator within a 90-day period, after which all users will need to update their identities and tax information to continue using the lottery platform.
The bill marks the re-establishment of the lottery market in Brazil through enhanced surveillance and quantifiable safeguards. While creating opportunities for operators, investors and sports institutions in the field of licensed lottery, legislators are under great pressure to protect millions of new entrants. Act No. 5,817/2025 elevated the prevention and control of gambling hazards to national priorities and introduced accountability mechanisms for operators and government agencies. Whether the proposal is adopted quickly or triggers a long debate, the signal is clear: the value measure for the future of the Brazilian lottery market will be not only the size of the collection but also its risk management effectiveness.
