On October 1, a new bill was presented to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies that aims to mandate full refunds for bettors experiencing net losses. The proposed legislation, identified as PL 5,502/2026, comes from Brazilian Federal Deputy Ricardo Abrão and requires betting operators to reimburse customers whose total deposits surpass their withdrawals.
According to the bill, a net loss is defined as the difference between the money deposited and the amount withdrawn or recovered from the betting operator. Operators would be accountable for reimbursing these net losses, adjusting amounts for inflation from the date of the original payment, with no fees or deductions allowed.
Additionally, the legislation outlines more reasons for reimbursement, including unpaid winnings and bets placed by self-excluded players or through unauthorized transactions. Crucially, players would not need to demonstrate any wrongdoing on the part of the gambling operator to qualify for a rebate of their net losses.
The bill does not specify a start or cutoff date, meaning that bets made prior to any market closure could be impacted. It also broadly defines what constitutes an operator, without restricting the definition to companies licensed in Brazil.
Yet, the proposal does leave several practical issues unanswered, such as whether refunds would be automatically issued or if players would need to file a claim, as well as the timeline for calculating the refund amounts.
The next step for PL 5,502/2026 is to move through the legislative process.
