Apple and Google remove betting apps in Brazil as fixed-odds ban takes effect

Apple and Google removed betting apps from their app stores in Brazil as a provisional measure banning fixed-odds betting took effect. Globo Online tracked 15 apps that had been legally operating since the previous week; all were available on Monday, but none could be found the next morning. Searches for betting names or terms including bet and casino returned simulated slot-machine games without financial payouts and card games.

On Monday, users could still install the apps, although deposits and bets were already blocked. Some apps displayed notices saying new deposits could not be made. By Monday mid-afternoon, platform balances totaled R$1.33 billion (US$264.9 million). The government had allowed downloads until Monday because that was the deadline for bettors to withdraw balances voluntarily; it expired at 11:59 p.m.

The measure prohibits operating, offering, intermediating, and advertising fixed-odds betting. It set a timetable: users had until 11:59 p.m. on 5 October to withdraw; from midnight on 6 October, sites and apps had to stop operating; on 7 and 8 October, betting companies had to give banks each user's balance details, identified by CPF; banks were expected to return funds from 9 to 14 October. Most installed apps redirected users to brasilsembets.com.br, which the government intended for redemption information and gambling-risk awareness. The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) called the measure electioneering and legally invalid and recommended operators not implement it.