Following Brazil President Lula da Silva’s provision to ban all legal gambling, previously licensed operators now must take all their websites and apps down starting today, 6 October.
In addition, throughout tomorrow (7 October) and the day after (8 October), companies must also provide banks with all details about the net amounts still held in bettors’ accounts so that balances can be refunded accordingly.
More on the deadlines, bettors had until 5 October to withdraw the funds themselves. Those who could not do it in time will need to wait for the banks and payment providers to issue the refunds between 9 October and 14 October.
As for the closure of the websites, the government is now reportedly redirecting all visitors to the brasilsembets.br page, which is used as a placeholder to signal that a gambling website is illegal.
Operators are of course not happy with this, and neither are the leading trade bodies of the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling (IBJR).
They have now directly appealed the decision to Supreme Court Minister Luiz Fux, noting that it could have an effect on around 100 million visits per day.
Their main argument is that gambling companies still have responsibilities even after the prohibition, such as processing refunds and keeping all systems and customer support services working during the transition period, which could be hampered by visitors being automatically redirected to another landing page.
Lula’s provision to end licensed gambling came into force on 26 September, just over two years after the President himself signed the legislation into law.
Critics have highlighted the coincidental timing with the currently ongoing Presidential elections, accusing Lula of trying to gain more votes as he goes against main rival Flavio Bolsonaro.
However, if this was the case, it seems like the effects haven’t been so impactful, with Lula (45.16%) currently behind Bolsonaro (47.03%) after the conclusion of the first voting round.
The second round will take place in three weeks, on 25 October.