Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is contemplating a ban on online gambling while tightening restrictions on sports betting.
President Lula may be planning radical changes to the legal betting market in Brazil that could lead to a complete ban on online casinos.
The idea of banning sports betting was also considered but is not presently included in the proposals, so there won’t be any loss of revenues from the regulated market.
President Lula is apparently planning to meet with those Brazilians affected by gambling problems prior to the elections in October in line with the Government’s actions taken in relation to the issue of online gambling.
The Government has also raised taxes on operators, with the planned increase in gross gaming revenue from 12% to 18% by 2028.
Brazilian association ABC-BET has appealed to the Government not to abandon the regulatory principles saying: “do not weaken regulation. Make it stronger.”
The association said:
Instead of reducing the problem, it may transfer it to an environment in which the state has less capacity to monitor, prevent indebtedness, and protect the citizen.
At the same time, it has become known that Brazil’s Government agency responsible for regulation of Gaming and Betting has intensified enforcement against those illegal operators.