Brazil court keeps PixBet suspended nationwide over failure to block minors

The Court of Justice of Paraíba (TJPB) upheld the suspension of PixBet’s online betting platforms across Brazil after the company failed to convince the court that its age-verification controls were enough to keep minors out. For PSPs and acquirers, the case is a clean reminder that “we have biometric checks” is not the same thing as “the court will treat our controls as sufficient.”

1. On Thursday, 16, Judge Adílson Fabrício rejected PixBet’s appeal against an earlier order issued on Tuesday, 14, by Judge João Lucas Souto Gil Messias, of the Children and Youth Court of Campina Grande. The appellate decision kept the original nationwide suspension in place.
2. PixBet argued that it already uses facial biometrics in line with federal law and with rules from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance. The company also said the Campina Grande court lacked authority to impose a measure with national effect and had gone beyond federal regulatory requirements.
3. The court rejected both lines of defense. In its view, online betting platforms require a high degree of security to prevent access by minors, and even the mere possibility of failures in verification systems is enough to amount to a defect in service. The court also said technical certifications do not prove that a system is infallible.
4. The initial order covered PixBet and platforms under its ownership, including Flabet and Bet da Sorte. The company was given up to 48 hours to comply, under a daily fine of R$ 100,000, until it regularizes its blocking mechanisms for underage users.
5. To resume operations, the court required three things: facial recognition with liveness checks at every access and every financial transaction; biometric verification matched against official databases; and automatic blocking of accounts opened with a minor’s CPF. The judge also cited the platforms’ use of child- and teen-facing cues, including visual elements, online casino games such as “Jogo do Tigrinho,” and sports-related advertising, as inconsistent with Brazil’s constitutional child-protection framework, the ECA, Law No. 14.811/2024, known as the “ECA Digital,” and the Betting Law.

The bigger point for payment providers is not just KYC in the narrow sense. In Brazil’s betting market, a court can turn age-gating, transaction-time verification, and product design into a compliance question fast enough to shut a brand down first and sort out the paperwork later.