Online gambling companies reportedly will be prevented from operating in Brazil if they haven’t requested authorization to do so. The potential suspensions announced by Brazil’s Finance Ministry will begin Oct. 1 as part of the country’s tightening of online gambling rules, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The Finance Ministry also plans to bar companies from offering credit to gamble on their websites and prohibit consumers from using credit cards to place bets, according to the report.
Gambling-related financial problems have become an “epidemic” in Brazil, demanding government action, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters in Brasilia, per the report.
“It’s becoming a serious social problem, and we have to face it,” Haddad said, according to the report.
