University of São Paulo: The undersigned wants to review the payroll loan for Auxílio Brasil

THELaw 14,431/22, recently approved by the National Congress, allows the more than 20 million families in the country, who receive the Auxílio Brasil of R$ 600 per month or other benefits, to have access to payroll-deductible credit. The measure received criticism from consumer protection entities, which understand that more studies are needed on the impact of the payroll loan for an extremely vulnerable population from a socioeconomic point of view. A petition asking for the postponement of the measure, scheduled to take effect in September, is circulating on the internet and will be handed over to the authorities.

For Professor Maria Paula Bertran, from USP’s Ribeirão Preto Law School (FDRP), one of the authors of the Note in Defense of the Economic Integrity of the Vulnerable Population, the measure needs to be postponed. “Before releasing access to credit, more studies need to be done in three areas.” The first, says the professor, is about behavioral economics, since people prefer to have less of something in the short term than more in the long term. “The immediate result is the option of the majority of the population. For the teacher, this causes serious compromise and well-being consequences.”

The second study is necessary, according to the professor, to understand the adequacy of credit supply and interest payments in a money that is “thought out”. The law allows you to commit up to 40% of the benefit amount and those who opt for the modality can have automatic discount of the installments in the maximum amount of R$ 240 monthly. “The benefit helps a portion of people in high vulnerability at a time of hyperinflation, of economic consequences of covid”, she argues. But the professor asks: “Is Brazil offering this credit so that people can still survive under the impacts of the pandemic or do they go into debt and jeopardize access to their own resources in the conduct of their lives in the coming months?”.

The third area of ​​study would be to identify microcredit alternatives to payroll. She believes that it is essential to advise and support vulnerable people before granting credit. “We ask for the extension of the possibility of the consigned loan on Auxílio Brasil, including for the establishment of some form of advice or support to the population.”

credit offer
The teacher says that, at the moment, what exists are disservices for taking credit. For her, there is a recurring insistence on the part of companies requesting the offer of credit. No less than 17 financial institutions are offering payroll-deductible credit to this portion of the population. But she points out that the large financial institutions that operate in the market have publicly stated that they will not offer payroll-deductible credit, as they consider that it involves an extremely vulnerable population. “There are references to filling out registrations so that credits on Auxílio Brasil are released immediately, with the regulation and the abusive argument that eventual dropouts will have to pay a fee”, she says.

The teacher’s concern is supported by data that show the population’s excessive indebtedness. According to the National Consumer Indebtedness and Default Survey (PEIC), of the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), 77.7% of these families have some type of debt, such as payment of cars, house, card credit cards, checks, among others.

Professor Iara Ribeiro, also from the FDRP, is the coordinator of the Indebted Support Program (PAE-FDRP), an extension service created at the teaching unit to guide people to prevent themselves against indebtedness and to welcome people who have difficulties in paying off their debts. to plan financially. For her, the problem is not the offer of credit, but the target audience. “This is a population that has not been able to get basic food, of people who sometimes fight over the garbage, who are going back to cooking with charcoal because they cannot pay for gas, who have been consuming candles because they cannot pay for electricity. ”, says Yara.

Professor Maria Paula points out, however, that no one is against people’s access to credit, “but, at the moment, the best public policy indicates that Auxílio Brasil beneficiaries use these resources to eat well”, concludes Maria Paula.

The undersigned Note in Defense of the Economic Integrity of the Vulnerable Population is an initiative of the Public Defender’s Office of the State of São Paulo, the Brazilian Institute for Consumer Protection (Idec), FDRP, PAE-FDRP, among others.