The Brazilian government is preparing to include a measure to prevent beneficiaries of social welfare money from gambling.
Regis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Betting (SPA) at the Ministry of Finance, confirmed the SPA’s plans to block those in receipt of Bolsa Familia and the Continous Cash Benefit (BPC) in an interview with Estadão, stating that the measure is in “the final alignment phase” from a legal and technical perspective.
By implementing the ban, the SPA is following the directive of Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF), which in November 2024 unanimously upheld the decision of Minister Luiz Fux, who ordered special protective measures to prevent the use of social welfare money.
“We don’t have a deadline yet. We want to publish a regulation, but we are being very careful because we know we are dealing with rights and following a decision from the Supreme Court. So, we want to fulfill this decision in the best possible way, protecting all rights,” Dudena stated.
According to the secretary, the prohibition will be that of the beneficiary as a whole, regardless of the source of the funds they were intending to use for betting, due to blocking the beneficiary’s Bolsa Familia card not being effective.
“It is very rare today for a beneficiary to receive exclusively on the Bolsa Família card,” he explained. “The rule is that they receive it in an account, and that account has a card linked to it. The standalone Bolsa Família card – which is not linked to a payment account or deposit account – is already prohibited in our regulations.”
“We presented these issues to the Supreme Court, explaining that the only way to comply would be this, and we are in the final phase of determining if this is the best way to meet the Supreme Court’s decision.”
The Bolsa Familia program provides income to low-income households in Brazil, focusing on families where each member earns below 77 Brazilian Reals, or just over £10 per month. More than 20 million households and 54 million people in Brazil receive Bolsa Familia.
Additionally, 5.8 million people receive BPC, a non-contributory pension scheme available to persons over the age of 64 and those unable to work due to disability. Claimants must have a family income that is less than 25% of the minimum wage in order to be eligible.
The Brazilian government’s decision to prevent sectors of its population from taking part in gambling bears some resemblance to the current decisions being taken in Thailand as the country prepares to allow the development of land-based casinos.
After much back-and-forth in recent weeks, it was confirmed that Thailand’s casino bill would largely exclude locals from playing in the venues.
It had been implied that the hurdles for Thailand residents would be scrapped in a bid to halt any potential black market. However, the government appears to have once again U-turned on this decision.
As a result, citizens will need to meet a THB50m (£1.12m) deposit requirement and a THB5,000 entry fee (£112) to enter casinos. However, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has underlined that the new framework is not yet cemented, and changes may happen.
Bangkok, Chonburi, Chiang Mai and Phuket have all been picked out as the regions to host new venues, underlining the intentions for the developments to be focused on Thailand’s sizeable tourist market.
