Brazil already blocks Bolsa Família and BPC recipients from betting platforms, despite Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign promise

Flávio Bolsonaro has added a pledge to ban social welfare funds from being used on betting sites, but in Brazil that restriction is already in force. For PSPs and operators, the point is not the slogan; it is the compliance stack underneath it, with mandatory CPF (tax ID) screening and ongoing account checks.

1. Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) filed his government plan with Brazil’s Electoral Court on Thursday (13/8) and included a promise to prohibit the use of federal social program funds on betting houses. The plan says: “We will prohibit the use of resources from social programs for betting, because money meant to put food on the table cannot flow to the betting house.”
2. The measure is not new. Exame reported that beneficiaries of Bolsa Família and the Benefício de Prestação Continuada (BPC) are already blocked from registering on betting platforms authorized to operate in Brazil, so the campaign proposal repeats an existing restriction rather than creating one.
3. The Ministry of Finance said the current rule dates back to an October 2025 norm that prevents Bolsa Família and BPC beneficiaries from registering with bets and, therefore, from betting with licensed companies. In November of the same year, Luiz Fux partially reversed the measure by court decision, but the ministry says the prohibition remains in force.
4. Magnho José, president of the Instituto Brasileiro Jogo Legal, said that “today, no Bolsa Família and BPC beneficiary can register on the platforms because they are blocked.” The Ministry of Finance also says that all users in CadÚnico have their betting registrations blocked.
5. Dario Durigan, Brazil’s finance minister, said on Thursday (13/8) that the country now has 5 million CPFs blocked for betting. The total breaks down into 3 million Bolsa Família and BPC beneficiaries who have already bet, 1.2 million people who self-excluded from the system, and 800,000 participants in Novo Desenrola, a debt renegotiation program that requires CPF blocking for 12 months as a condition of enrollment.

The Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas keeps a database of beneficiary CPFs that betting houses must consult. Operators are required to check whether a bettor appears on the blocked list when opening an account, on the first daily login, and at least every 15 days across their entire customer base. The restrictions follow a precautionary decision from the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) and recommendations from the Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU).