Brazil is expected to launch a new centralised national self-exclusion system by the end of this year.

This was outlined in Normative Instruction Number 31 published by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA-MF), which aims to strengthen the responsible gambling policies in the regulated fixed odds betting market that launched back in January of this year.

The system will allow players to voluntarily self-exclude not only from a single specific operator but also from all licensed betting platforms nation-wide if they choose to.

Regis Dudena, SPA Secretary, said: “We are moving forward with the expansion of the protection of people, which is the central concern of our Secretariat and Minister Fernando Haddad.

“We are giving people the possibility to decide if they want to temporarily restrict their exposure to betting, centrally and safely, including reducing their access to advertising. This is an advance that puts Brazil in a vanguard position in the world, in caring for our population.”

The system was technically put together by the Federal Data Processing Service (SEPRO) at the request of SPA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Sports, and Brazil’s Secretariat of Social Communication (SECOM). It was put as a priority in the country’s 2025/26 Regulatory Agenda published back in April.

Marcelo Kimati Dias, Director of the Mental Health Department at the Ministry of Health, commented: “In the context of mental health, the improvement of self-exclusion mechanisms will contribute to prevention and harm reduction strategies related to gambling disorder.”

As per Normative Instruction 31, operators will have up to 30 days from the instruction’s publication date (11 November) to ensure that they’ve implemented all necessary technical procedures that allow them to block self-excluded users and return any remaining deposits.

Additionally, operators will have 90 more days to comply with the new technical standards outlined in the recently-published Ordinance No. 2,579 that require them to offer deposit limit options for players on their platforms.

Alexandre Amorim, SEPRO President, said: “The advance in betting protection is a milestone for the maturation of the betting sector in the country, with Serpro’s technology ensuring, once again, transparency, security and social responsibility, always in accordance with data protection standards and the principles of digital sovereignty.”

The self-exclusion system is the latest in a series of efforts by Brazil’s SPA to strengthen player protection across the country, with the authority already actively preventing state benefits from social programmes like the Bolsa Familia Programme and the Continuous Benefit Payment from being used for gambling.

On a separate note, besides the self-exclusion system a potential gambling tax increase from 12% to 24% is also on the agenda, with the Senate set to vote on 18 November after multiple delays.