President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed the provisional measure (MP) based on the program, which is expected to provide adequate time for the government to structure and initiate its operation from the next month.
The program named Desenrola aims to offer debt renegotiation options for those individuals with restricted credit and facing financial difficulties due to low income.
According to the Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who held a press conference at the Palácio do Planalto alongside the Vice President and Minister of Development, Geraldo Alckmin, the Desenrola program targets individuals with debt and restricted credit in credit protection agencies such as Serasa and SPC, accumulating debts up to R$ 5,000 and a family income of R$ 2,000.
Haddad stated that on average 30 million people have restricted credit, making them eligible to participate in the program.
The objective is to provide an opportunity to renegotiate these debts, but only those contracted until December of last year.
The intention is to prevent the creation of new delinquencies, as the program is aimed at mitigating the impacts that the pandemic has caused in the lives of thousands of Brazilian families.
The government, through the National Treasury, will purchase the debt portfolios of banks and other creditors of these indebted clients at a discount.
This action should provide creditors with the guarantee that they will be reimbursed by the government for the unpaid accounts or loans from customers.
The negotiation of debt settlement will be done directly between the client and the bank, using a system specially developed by the government for the registered companies in the program.
The proposal is for the creditor to offer the highest possible discount, as by participating in the program, their credit will become liquid, with the guarantee from the National Treasury.
Haddad and Alckmin also announced a new government program that will offer tax discounts to reduce the values of vehicles such as cars, buses, and trucks.
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Today, in the country, around 62 million people are considered to have restricted credit, which is about 57% of the adult population.
According to Rodrigo Cunha, these individuals and families need support to get back on their feet, and by approving this project, we can restore the dignity of more than 43 million Brazilians, and moreover, promote collective inclusion and inject significant R$ 350 billion into the economy, according to data from the Brazilian Order of Economists.
He also emphasizes that reintegrating these Brazilians into the consumer market could further strengthen the post-pandemic economic recovery process.
With the mass conciliation mechanism, all creditors will be able to sit down with the consumer, allowing not only banks to recover their debts but also micro and small business owners, who lack guarantees for their debts, to have the opportunity to receive overdue amounts, highlighted Rodrigo Cunha.
The 40-year-old Alagoan senator Rodrigo Cunha is a lawyer specializing in Consumer Law. He was a state representative from 2015 to 2018 and was elected senator in 2018.
Cunha headed the Alagoas Procon for seven years, where he had the opportunity to closely monitor the problems faced by consumers with restricted credit and the need for changes in legislation.
For him, overindebtedness is a collective problem, not an individual one.
“I have often directly assisted many citizens, and the lack of information, aggressive and abusive advertising, and lack of financial education drastically affect their lives.
With the project coming to fruition, we will be giving an opportunity to citizens who certainly will not miss this opportunity and, of course, companies that used to lose will gain in the future.”
Problems in collecting from debtors
Currently, to collect from a debtor, companies need to resort to the judiciary, and due to the high costs that a judicial process can involve, only banks, card issuers, and other large companies have real conditions to receive overdue amounts.
According to the text approved in the Senate, at the request of the consumer with restricted credit, the judge may initiate the process called debt repactuation with the presence of all creditors.
During the hearing, the consumer may define a payment plan with a maximum term of five years for settlement, preserving the original guarantees.