Court orders betting platform to compensate user with gambling addiction in Paraná.

A court in Paraná state has ordered a sports betting platform to compensate a user who developed gambling addiction after placing approximately 39 bets in four months, spending inherited money. The decision, issued by the 9th Civil Court of Curitiba, mandates the payment of over R$ 142 to the gambler.

The case exposes the responsibility of betting platforms regarding the compulsive behavior of their users. The judge acknowledged that the company had access to the complete account history and, even in the face of a clearly abnormal usage pattern, failed to take effective measures to mitigate the harm.

According to the proceedings, which are confidential, the gambler made approximately 39 bets in 131 days, equivalent to almost 300 per day. The amounts to be paid by the platform are R$ 133.211,76 for material damages, R$ 4.018,92 for medical expenses, and R$ 5 for moral damages; excluding interest and inflation adjustments, the total exceeds R$ 142.

Diagnosis and grounds for conviction

The compulsive behavior resulted in diagnoses of gambling addiction, generalized anxiety disorder, and moderate depression. The gambler also reported physical problems related to stress.

In the ruling, the magistrate stated that the platform had full access to the client's betting history, frequency of use, and amounts of money transacted. Even with this data available, the company failed to demonstrate that it had taken any concrete steps to mitigate the risks. The judge wrote that the platform "continued to economically exploit the compulsive activity carried out by the consumer without demonstrating the adoption of any effective measures aimed at mitigating the risks inherent in the situation subsequently diagnosed."

Based on the Consumer Protection Code, the conviction was grounded in the failure to provide the service.

Arguments rejected by the defense.

The company presented two main arguments during the process. The first was that it did not operate the platform during the period in which the bets occurred. The judge rejected this argument because the brand presented to the consumer was the same, which prevented the user from identifying any internal changes in management.

The second argument was that financial losses are inherent risks of sports betting. However, the court ruled that the extreme pattern of platform usage placed the case beyond the limits of ordinary risk for the activity.

The gambler had also requested compensation for lost profits, claiming he had stopped working due to health problems that developed during that period. The request was denied due to a lack of sufficient evidence to quantify the income he allegedly lost.

Attorney Eduardo Rios Sánchez, who acted in the gambler's defense, assessed that "the sentence fulfilled the constitutional function of protecting consumers. Gamblers are hyper-vulnerable in their relationship with betting sites, and gambling disorder is a very serious illness that betting sites should prevent, instead of taking advantage of. The Paraná court followed, in a very well-founded manner, the national trend that we have seen in other courts in Brazil."

The decision can still be challenged in higher courts.