Regulatory agencies: lack of servers affects services – 07/12/2023 – Market

With a growing deficit of servers, regulatory agencies work at the limit of functional capacity, according to entities linked to public bodies. They also warn that embezzlement could jeopardize the safety and functioning of essential services, such as transport and electricity.

Data compiled by Unareg (National Union of Career Servers of Federal Regulatory Agencies) show that, with the exception of Anvisa, all municipalities suffer from a shortage of employees. Without professionals, agencies face difficulties in fulfilling their duties with companies and the population.

The calculation was made from the comparison between the staff provided by the institution law of each agency and the total number of permanent active servants, according to data available in the Statistical Panel of Personnel of the federal government.

Responsible for regulating mining activities, the ANM (National Mining Agency) is the most affected by the shortage, with a deficit of almost 70%.

Last year, the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) included the agency’s structuring on the federal administration’s high-risk list. One of the reasons was the low number of inspectors: in 2021, there were only 38 people to assess 911 dams, according to the report.

The situation raises the risks of mining, where insecurity can cause serious incidents, such as what happened in Brumadinho (MG) in 2019.

Elson da Silva, president of Unareg and employee of Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), considers the case of ANM even more complex due to the gap in the average salary of employees, which is lower compared to that of the other ten municipalities. According to Sinagências (National Union of Employees of National Regulatory Agencies), the salary difference is 46%.

“Recently, we discovered mining in the land of the Yanomami, whose supervision is an attribution of the ANM. But it is impossible to cope with this demand with the current number of servers”, he says.

In 2021, the Ministry of Economy authorized a public notice to hire temporary employees for the agency, in an attempt to reduce embezzlement. But this is not the ideal solution, according to Ruy Afonso Lima, professor of economics at UFF (Fluminense Federal University).

“Rotating prevents the learning curve and prevents the employee from making correct and technically sustainable decisions, which guarantee legal certainty and the predictability of the investment”, he says.

He claims that the situation of agencies still affects companies, delaying regulations and increasing business risks.

ANTT (National Land Transport Agency), with a reduction of approximately 46%, is the second most affected by embezzlement. The autarchy regulates and supervises services related to land transport, such as the performance of bus companies and the concession of highways, to ensure the safety of passengers and pedestrians.

For Susi Ane Suárez, vice-president of Unareg and ANTT regulation technician since 2005, the staff deficit restricts the hours of operation of the agency’s points at bus terminals, where vehicle inspections take place, and may even cause the closure of stations spread across the country.

“A large part of our work involves safety. Whether the vehicle is in running condition, a highway for users, ensuring the application of public policies. Therefore, the shortage of servers has a very strong impact on society”, he says. Susi Anne.

According to trade associations, without proper supervision, the risk of accidents on roads and railways grows. The embezzlement can also affect the guarantee of sector policies, such as gratuity for the elderly, since there are no teams to verify that the measures are being complied with.

Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) is also among the hardest hit, with 31.9% less employees than provided by law. The framework compromises the inspection of planes and airports, which can affect the safety of flights.

Another impact is on service to users who wish to report or complain about airlines. With the shortage of servers, requests take longer to be served.

At Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency), the deficit is 26%, with employees reporting accumulation of tasks. Serving the agency for 16 years, Benedito Cruz Gomes says that the overload affects the quality of the professionals’ work.

“There are several risks due to this situation: from small errors that can result in an impact of millions of reais on the regulated market and its users, to decisions that, if not properly discussed and evaluated, can result in harmful behavior for the sectors”, he says. .

The Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services says it is evaluating the framework of municipalities. The folder states that, in the case of the ANM, the provision of an additional 24 vacancies was approved and, for the second half of this year, the authorization of a new public tender is foreseen.

“The Ministry is closely monitoring the situation of the regulatory agencies, as well as that of other bodies and entities of the federal public administration that demand the recomposition of personnel.”

Professor Alketa Peci, from Ebape FGV (Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation), considers that agencies have a better situation than other public bodies.

She claims that, because they were created in the 1990s, the laws are more recent and provide for more autonomy. In addition to competitions, the professor argues that it is necessary to think of new strategies for the work of agencies, considering the convergence between sectors and using more modern techniques for inspection.

“The Ministry of Management needs to see this set of careers and their specificities and think of a more intelligent model, which can respond to the inspection demand. We need to hire, but not exponentially.”