Brazil Ordered Betting Sites Offline as National Fixed-Odds Ban Took Effect on 6 October 2026

Brazil’s betting platforms went dark on 6 October 2026 after Provisional Measure 1,394/2026 took effect, blocking the exploitation, offering, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting nationwide. For PSPs and banks, the important part is not just the shutdown itself, but the state-managed unwind: withdrawals, residual balances, and a tightly scripted refund flow.

1. Provisional Measure 1,394/2026 was signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 September and applies across Brazil’s federal, state and district authorisations. The Ministry of Finance says the prohibition covers both online and physical environments under the fixed-odds regime, including online games offered under that framework.
2. Operators were required to keep websites and apps available for voluntary withdrawals until 23:59 on 5 October. From 6 October, betting platforms had to become unavailable. The Ministry of Finance also set procedures for banks to return funds that remained in customer accounts.
3. The refund timetable is now the operational issue to watch. Operators must communicate residual balances to financial institutions on 6 and 7 October, including the relevant CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas, Brazil’s taxpayer registration number) and the banking details tied to the deposits. Between 9 and 14 October, the financial institutions involved in the payment flow are expected to return the funds to users.
4. If a bank cannot complete the repayment for operational reasons, Caixa Econômica Federal is scheduled to act as an intermediary from 14 October. The government has also said those funds remain the property of the users, and missing the voluntary withdrawal deadline does not by itself make a balance forfeited.
5. Separately, the Ministry of Finance issued Portaria 3.005/2026 to govern operator obligations during the wind-down. Companies must submit final balance information through the Sistema de Gestão de Apostas and continue meeting outstanding regulatory and financial obligations tied to their operating period.

The scale matters. On 2 October, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security said money held in betting accounts had dropped from approximately R$2.1 billion to R$1.453 billion since 26 September, a reduction of about 31%. At that point, around 28.65 million CPFs still had positive balances.