Brazil’s Ministry of Justice is set to establish a new working group to develop enforcement guidelines for betting operators that violate the country’s Consumer Protection Code.
The task force will operate under the National Consumer Secretariat (Senacon) for an initial 90-day period and will be responsible for proposing criteria for sanctions against licensed operators that engage in practices such as misleading advertising.
Under current legislation, penalties range from formal warnings to fines of up to BR14m ($2.7m).
The initiative comes as Brazil continues to tighten oversight of betting advertising following the World Cup, where promotions broadcast during live football coverage prompted multiple regulatory investigations.
The Federal Government has recently announced a new package of advertising restrictions that will take effect in July. Under the new rules, all licensed betting advertisements must carry mandatory warnings stating that gambling can lead to addiction, result in financial losses and should not be viewed as an investment.
The regulations also prohibit advertising that presents betting recommendations based on the expertise or credibility of commentators, sports analysts and influencers, a marketing approach that became a central focus of Senacon’s investigation into CazéTV’s World Cup broadcasts.
Beyond defining sanctions, the working group will also develop a national coordination program for Brazil’s Consumer Protection System, seeking greater consistency in the way consumer authorities respond to potential violations across the country.
The committee will include four Senacon representatives alongside delegates from Brazil’s consumer protection agencies (Procons), the Consumer Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Council of Public Defenders.
In Brazil, 3.8 million people are currently prohibited from using licensed betting platforms, including 2.8 million beneficiaries of Federal social assistance programs whose access has been blocked by the Ministry of Finance
