Brazil's federal government went to court on Monday (September 28) against 17 online betting operators, the so-called bets. The lawsuit, filed by the Advocacia-Geral da Uniao (AGU), the federal government's legal office, at a federal court in Pernambuco, seeks at least R$ 1 billion (roughly $185 million) in collective moral damages, plus reimbursement of spending by the SUS, Brazil's free universal health system, on treating gamblers, and double restitution of the money wagered by people diagnosed with gambling disorder.
The figures backing the claim come from the filing itself. According to the lawsuit, about 28 million Brazilians currently bet and 10.9 million show risky or problematic gambling behavior. Between January 2018 and December 2025, SUS visits linked to diagnoses of pathological gambling and excessive gambling behavior grew by roughly 140%. The AGU cites a preliminary study by the Health Ministry estimating minimum damage of R$ 2.6 billion. The office argues that the compensation set by law falls short: only 0.12% of the mandatory revenue allocations from operators go to the ministry, which came to about R$ 50 million transferred in the last fiscal year, according to the AGU.
"The defendant companies privatize substantial profits from the financial capture of millions of bettors, while transferring to the SUS and to society as a whole the budgetary cost of collective illness," the AGU argues in the filing.
The suit also asks for double restitution of wagers placed by people diagnosed with gambling disorder in two situations described by the AGU: when a company kept accepting deposits and bets after being informed of the diagnosis, and when a platform failed to act on risk signals that could have been identified. The government wants those bets declared null. The defendants include the companies behind the brands Bet365, Betano, Superbet, Sportingbet, Blaze, Betnacional and Estrelabet.
Three days after the ban
The lawsuit lands three days after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued Provisional Measure 1.394, a decree with the force of law that banned fixed-odds betting, online games and virtual casinos in the country. Bets were legalized in 2018, regulated in 2023, and the regulated market began operating in 2025. On Monday, the sector groups ANJL and IBJR asked Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) to suspend the measure. The case sits with Justice Luiz Fux, and the AGU asked for 72 hours to respond.
What is settled and what is still a request
Nothing has been decided in court. The amount to be repaid to the SUS is not fixed: the AGU asks that the companies be ordered to compensate the government for the five years before the filing and for future costs, with the total to be calculated later, at the sentencing stage. The R$ 1 billion claim is an opening request, and the R$ 2.6 billion estimate comes from a preliminary study cited in the case.
For bettors, the government's deadlines are concrete: voluntary withdrawals from platform balances run until 11:59 p.m. on October 5, and anyone who does not withdraw will have the money returned by their banks between October 9 and 14. People diagnosed with gambling disorder who hope to benefit from the restitution, if the court accepts it, will have to prove the diagnosis and the amounts involved case by case. Keeping deposit receipts, betting statements and medical records on hand will make that easier.