Government will impose interval between bets and create new restrictions for bets

The regulations complement those published in July, during the World Cup, which tightened advertising rules. At the time, there were questions about excessive advertising during broadcasts, which led to the opening of investigations by the government to investigate the procedures adopted by companies.

The new rules will affect the functioning of the platforms, not just the advertising carried out to publicize them. The use of festive sounds, such as the clinking of coins, for example, will be prohibited. Features of this type are often adopted in slot machines to encourage users to continue playing.

According to a member of the government, the content of the SPA (Sports Betting Secretariat) ordinance has already been defined, but is now undergoing technical evaluation by the Ministry of Finance. The expectation is that publication will take place by the beginning of next week.

The measures, according to the government member, seek to avoid thoughtless betting and addiction. The intention is to make the bettor reflect before playing and not encounter difficulties in withdrawing the money and stopping.

The ordinance will determine that platforms have a minimum interval of five seconds between each bet.

The idea is to give the bettor time to reflect and prevent him from making a new thoughtless bet right after losing, with the intention of "recovering" the lost money, which could worsen the financial situation.

Among the measures will also be the ban on the use of stopwatches or timers to force a hasty decision.

Furthermore, the platform will be prohibited from pre-selecting the filling of amounts or indicating any previous amount on the deposit or bet screens. Another veto will be the "autoplay" mode, with automatic betting programming, without individual action by the bettor.

The platform cannot make it difficult to withdraw the money deposited with advertisements, promotions or pop-ups that offer rewards so that it keeps the money there and avoids redeeming the amounts.

The government will also prohibit the publication of rankings with the biggest winners or the dissemination of statistics, tutorials or suggestions that mislead bettors into believing that bets depend on skill, study or analysis.

The document was debated in recent days between Senacon (Secretariat for Consumer Protection) and Sedigi (National Secretariat for Digital Rights), from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, and Secom (Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency) and SPA, from the Treasury.

A meeting with entities representing the sector took place this Tuesday (4) to present the measures, which are part of a set of government initiatives against betting.

Last month, the SPA already published an ordinance to restrict advertising by betting houses. Advertisements can no longer induce a sense of urgency and promise financial gains, and must be accompanied by the phrase "The Ministry of Finance warns: betting makes you lose money", "betting can cause addiction" or "betting is not an investment".

Despite the restriction, some members of the government believe that the phrase was not effective as it allowed companies to choose one of the three phrases - which has led the majority to opt for the mildest one, that betting is not an investment.