Renegotiates: joint effort to pay water and electricity debts begins – 07/24/2023 – Market

Indebted consumers can participate in the Mutirão Renegocia!, promoted by Senacon (National Consumer Secretariat), of the Ministry of Justice, starting this Monday (24).

The action aims to renegotiate and pay overdue debts such as water, electricity, telephone and other debts. The mutirão runs until August 11 and takes place in partnership with Procons across the country.

Unlike Desenrola Brasil, Renegocia! There is no income limit for participation. However, there is no removal of the name of the debtors from the register of defaulters, as in Desenrola.

The mutirão is provided for in Decree 11,567, which raised the value of the minimum existential monthly income from R$ 303 to R$ 600 for over-indebted people, who are people who are unable to pay their debts and maintain the minimum to survive.

Justice Minister Flávio Dino explained to Agência Brasil how the negotiation will work. “The participation of creditors is mandatory. It is not a possibility, it is an obligation. Creditors, once summoned by Justice or Procon, are obliged to participate.”

Who can participate in the mutirão?

You can participate in Renegocia! citizens with any type of overdue debt. There are no limits on the amount of debt or consumer income.

The consumer will even be able to renegotiate debts on water or electricity bills, in addition to overdue bills with stores or bank debts. The mutirão will last from July 24th to August 11th.

These are some of the differences between Senacon’s action, an agency of the Ministry of Justice, and the first phase of Desenrola Brasil, the Ministry of Finance’s debt renegotiation program launched last Monday (17). According to Minister Flávio Dino (Justice), the programs are complementary.

In the case of Desenrola, launched by the Treasury, the current stage is aimed at bank debts with banks, financial institutions, cooperatives and credit societies that are registered in the program, and the debtor must receive between R$ 2,640 and R$ 20,000 per month and have entered the list of defaulters between 2019 and 2022.

Water, electricity or gas bills and other services can only be renegotiated by Desenrola in September, when Track 1 of the program will begin.

How to sign up for the mutirão?

According to the Ministry of Justice, citizens interested in participating in Renegocia! may look for the nearest consumer protection bodies from this second. Consumers can go to the Procons of their state, Public Prosecutor’s Office, Public Defender’s Office and consumer protection associations.

Another channel that can be used to renegotiate the debt is the consumer.gov.br website, where the consumer will negotiate directly with the creditor company. To log in to the portal, you must have a Gov.br silver or gold level account.

According to the Ministry of Justice, after accessing the platform, the consumer must select the creditor to formalize the request. When filling out the request, it is important to select the option “Debt renegotiation/installment” in the “Problem” field.

In the field “Description of the Complaint”, the citizen must inform that he wants to participate in the debt renegotiation action. The creditor will submit a response that must be evaluated by the consumer.

During this period, it is possible to interact with the company, attach documents, clarify doubts and complement the complaint, if necessary.

Is there an income or debt limit?

No. Citizens with overdue debts of any amount, and who receive any income, can join Renegocia! Any overdue debt — utility bills such as water, electricity, gas, telephone, bank debts and debts with retail stores — can be negotiated in the joint effort.

Can debts be paid in installments?

Negotiations should be decided by each company. There is no guarantee of installments, but the taxpayer must check the conditions before closing the renegotiation.

“The number of installments, the interest applied and the possibility of total or partial forgiveness of the fines levied on overdue debts will be up to each negotiation made between the consumer and the companies”, according to the Ministry of Justice

Will there be fine forgiveness?

There is no guarantee that the consumer will be able to pay the debt in installments, obtain discounts or the forgiveness of fines levied on delays.