Brazil's betting ban: withdrawal window closes 5 October, sites go dark 6 October
Under Provisional Measure 1.394/2026, operators must take betting sites and apps offline from 6 October and report player balances to banks, which refund players by 14 October.
In brief
- What happened
- Brazil's Finance Ministry said the deadline for players to withdraw money from betting platforms ends at 23:59 on 5 October, under a measure banning betting and its advertising.
- Why it matters
- Betting sites and apps must become unavailable from 6 October, and banks are to refund remaining balances between 9 and 14 October.
- Who it affects
- Betting platforms and their customers in Brazil: platforms must report balances to banks, and customers can withdraw funds until the deadline.
Brazil's Finance Ministry said the window for voluntary withdrawals from betting platforms closes at 23:59 on Monday 5 October 2026, setting out a timetable for the ban imposed by Provisional Measure 1.394/2026. The notice came from the ministry's Secretariat of Prizes and Bets.
According to the ministry, the measure bans betting and betting advertising across Brazil. It covers sports betting and online games, in physical and virtual settings. The ban also applies to state and district-owned companies.
Key details
- 25 September: the provisional measure was published. New funds may no longer enter the transactional accounts of betting platforms.
- Until 23:59 on 5 October: players can use sites and apps to request withdrawal of available balances.
- From 6 October: sites and apps offering fixed-odds betting must be unavailable.
- 6 and 7 October: platforms must tell financial institutions each player's remaining balance, itemised by CPF (taxpayer number), and the bank account the deposits came from.
- 9 to 14 October: financial institutions must return the money to players.
- From 14 October: where banks face operational difficulty in making refunds, the state-owned Caixa Econômica Federal will act as intermediary.
Why it matters
The timetable leaves platforms two days, 6 and 7 October, to report balances after going offline. Banks then have a refund window running from 9 to 14 October. The notice does not say what penalties apply to platforms that miss a step, or how long the ban will last.
Drafted with AI assistance from the regulator's official notice, fact-checked automatically against that source and reviewed by our editors before publication. How we work