Setting a ceiling of 3.6% for fees charged by companies issuing meal vouchers and food vouchers represents a “more civilized” measure in relation to current values, said this Wednesday (12) the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. According to him, the Workers’ Food Program (PAT) had been losing effectiveness due to high costs and practices considered irregular in the intermediation of payments.
According to the minister, the government decided to establish the limit after identifying distortions in the transfer system between companies, benefit operators and commercial establishments.
“We began to realize that the PAT money began to be intermediated, with a very high rate of return and with inappropriate behavior from a legal point of view”, declared Haddad, at the entrance to the Ministry of Finance, in Brasília.
Published on Tuesday (11), the Decree 12,712 establishes that benefit card operators cannot charge restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries a fee higher than 3.6% per transaction. The average is 5.19%. Companies will also have a maximum period of 15 days to pass on the value of sales to establishments, reducing the interval that currently varies depending on each contract.
Edge resources
Haddad explained that the objective is to ensure that resources fully reach the end of the program.
“It was money that should be allocated to workers, with tax benefits for companies that joined the program, and that should reach the end — the restaurant, the bakery, the market, the supermarket,” he stated.
The minister also highlighted that the practice of rebate — discount or financial return to the company contracting the benefits — was being used improperly and, in some cases, recorded in the companies’ balance sheets. Rebate is prohibited by law, as it represents an irregular financial advantage and violates principles of commercial transparency.
Despite considering the new ceiling still high, Haddad assessed that the percentage is more appropriate than the previous one. “We want to look ahead, and that’s why a more civilized rate was set. It’s still high, but compared to what was being practiced, it was exorbitant,” he said.
Adaptation
Haddad informed that companies will have a period of adaptation to the new rules, which will come into force in a staggered manner, between 90 and 180 days. “It was a lot of work, a lot of study, we interacted a lot with the sector. But we were actually talking about illegalities. If we looked back and charged retroactively for what was illegal, that wouldn’t look good”, he stated.
The minister highlighted that the government’s objective is to reestablish the original purpose of the PAT: to promote healthy eating for workers, at compatible costs, without harming the owners of restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries.
Economy and new rules
According to the Ministry of Finance, changes to the rules governing meal vouchers and food vouchers could generate savings of up to R$7.9 billion per year.
The calculation by the ministry’s Secretariat for Economic Reforms points to an average gain of R$225 per year per worker, obtained through increased competition and reduced costs for bars, restaurants and supermarkets. The government expects companies to pass the savings on to consumers.
Decree No. 12,712 also provides for the implementation of interoperability between card brands within one year. This will allow any accredited establishment to accept cards from different operators.
The rule also prevents companies with more than 500,000 workers from concentrating on issuing cards and accrediting establishments, increasing competition in the sector. According to the Treasury, the measure seeks to “curb abuse of economic power” and ensure that the benefits of PAT are accrued to the worker, with lower intermediation costs and greater predictability for store owners.
