Brazil’s Supreme Court halts betting-account blocks for Bolsa Família and BPC beneficiaries

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has temporarily suspended Ministry of Finance rules forcing betting operators to block and close existing accounts held by Bolsa Família and BPC beneficiaries, while keeping a ban on new registrations in place until a full hearing in February 2026.

On 19 December, Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Luiz Fux granted a partial injunction in Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) 7,721, suspending parts of Ministry of Finance rules that required betting platforms to automatically block and close accounts belonging to beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família and BPC social-assistance programmes. The order will remain in effect until a conciliation hearing before the Court on 10 February 2026.

In practice, betting operators are no longer obliged to freeze or terminate already active accounts solely because the account holder receives social benefits. Fux later clarified that the suspension applies to balances and transactions exceeding the value of the social benefit itself, meaning that beneficiaries can regain access to their existing betting accounts, but remain barred from using the Bolsa Família or BPC funds directly for gambling. The prohibition on new registrations or the opening of new betting accounts by social programme beneficiaries remains fully in force.

The injunction responds to a petition from the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), which argued that the Ministry of Finance had gone beyond the scope of a previous STF ruling by ordering the blanket blocking and closure of accounts, and warned of “irreversible harm” if the measures were enforced over the judicial recess. Those rules – issued through Normative Ordinance No. 2,217/2025 and Normative Instruction No. 22 – had required operators to consult the federal betting-management system (Sigap) and block CPFs linked to social welfare benefits, leading to around 900,000 beneficiaries being prevented from accessing betting platforms between 1 and 12 December.

Fux said the partial suspension is intended to avoid irreversible impacts before the Court has fully examined whether the ministry’s rules comply with the Constitution and with the STF’s own earlier decision, which focused on preventing the use of welfare funds in betting rather than imposing a full participation ban. At the same time, he kept tight restrictions on new accounts to ensure that social-programme money is not channelled into gambling while the justices deliberate.

For licensed betting operators, the decision eases some immediate operational pressures – they no longer have to mass-close existing accounts – but the regulatory environment around social-benefits recipients remains in flux. Both companies and affected players will be watching the 10 February hearing closely, as the STF’s final position will define whether Brazil settles on a narrow bar on using welfare funds for gambling or returns to a broader ban on participation by social programme beneficiaries.