The concession of the management of municipal cemeteries to the private sector, transferred to administrators in March last year, increased the prices of burials and cremations in the city of São Paulo. A survey by the São Paulo Municipal Servers Union (Sindsep) showed that the value of packages for funerals more than tripled in the city’s cemeteries after the concession.
Four companies took over the administration of the funeral service in the capital of São Paulo. In total, there are 22 public cemeteries and one crematorium. The contracts provide that the concessionaires are responsible for the operation of services, management, maintenance, exploration, revitalization and expansion of the units. The duration of the concession contract is 25 years.
“The main issue is the value of the service, which has increased a lot. This is the main complaint that exists, the prices are exorbitant. And it is easily proven by the table that they themselves [empresas] publicize”, said Sindsep’s legal affairs secretary, João Batista Gomes. He assesses that the rise in prices is directly linked to the concession of the units. The survey includes the two companies that make the values available on the website, whose concessions cover 11 cemeteries.
He reported that privatization also hampered the handling of complaints, as all municipal employees were displaced and replaced by company employees. “These workers even have a union, but the relationship is very fragile [de trabalho] from them. So people are afraid to report it,” said Gomes.
Councilor Hélio Rodrigues states that, since the beginning of the concession, he has received numerous complaints about the cemeteries and undue charges made by the concessionaires. He reiterated the relationship between privatization and the increase in service costs. “Without a doubt, these adjustments are a consequence of the concession. There are also many reports of charges for amounts different from those shown in the official tables and a lack of transparency in relation to the amounts charged”, he reported.
“We have also had many complaints from workers, as is the case with independent gardeners and contractors who provide services in cemeteries and are regulated by a municipal ordinance, but suffer frequent harassment from concessionaires who make it difficult for them to access the sites, approach families and carry out of their works. Our mandate achieved the renewal of the work permit until December 2024”, he added.
The parliamentarian’s referrals include a letter to the National Secretariat for Consumer Rights reporting the undue charging of various services, such as thanatopraxy (a type of body cleansing) in duplicate, and representations to the Municipal Audit Court (TCM) regarding audits in cemeteries.
The TCM recognized the lack of information disclosed by companies regarding free funerals and prices for citizens. The court also recognized the failure to provide visible and easily accessible communication to residents informing them that they are not obliged to hire gardening and maintenance services for deposits directly with the concessionaire, and that they have the free choice to hire independent professionals.
Until January of this year, the concessionaires worked with the Funeral Service of the Municipality of São Paulo, as part of the implementation phase. The Public Services Regulatory Agency of the Municipality of São Paulo (SP Regula) is responsible for the supervision and contractual management of concessions.
City hall
The city of São Paulo informed, in a note, that the quality of services and compliance with all contractual clauses of the concession are periodically monitored by SP Regula. “It is essential that citizens formalize complaints or suggestions through the Municipal Ombudsman’s Office, the SP Regula website or through the SP156 service channels. All cases are rigorously investigated”, says the note.
“The social funeral (cheapest package sold today) costs R$566.04, that is, 25% cheaper than the ‘Jasmim’ package, which was the cheapest before the concession (R$754.73). The other packages maintained the 2019 prices, with only the correction foreseen in the first year of the contract”, added the city hall.
The note also says that “since the beginning of the concession, there have been advances in the quality of services, with the implementation of minimum standards for funeral urns and burials, definition of the wake time and monitoring of the body”.
Celso Vitor Souza, 61 years old, said that the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha cemetery concessionaire does not provide information that explains the old concessions for the use of tombs, made before the cemeteries were granted to the private sector. This is the case of your family, who is being charged R$20,000 to renew the use concession. Celso’s parents and brother were buried there.
“In July of this year, the family went to carry out the exhumation [do meu irmão] and were prevented. The funeral directors claimed that the concession had expired and a payment of R$20,000 was required. I went to the Public Defender’s Office, who demanded the information in writing. Only then was exhumation permitted. However, until now I still don’t know what my rights are in relation to the family tomb”, reported Celso.
