Alcolumbre postpones vote on PL that charges DPVAT again

O president of the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), postponed, this Tuesday, 30th, the vote on the bill (PL) which resumes insurance for victims of traffic accidentsfor next Wednesday 8.

The text has a tortoise that will allow the advance of around R$15 billion for the government in 2024, changing a section of the fiscal framework. Alcolumbre granted a week’s notice for senators to analyze the text. If approved on Wednesday by the collegiate body, the text will go to the plenary.

This is the second time that the vote on the proposal has been postponed. If approved by the CCJ, the matter goes to the plenary. The government requested constitutional urgency to the matter, which should change the time for a possible request for a review made by a parliamentarian.

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However, the president of the CCJ highlighted that, for everyone to analyze the matter, he would grant a regulatory review. The senator explained that there was also a technical error in the deliberation of the secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies, where the project was approved at the beginning of this month. Which caused the project to go beyond constitutional urgency at times.

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva placed the DPVAT PL as a condition to be able to pay the R$ 3.6 billion in non-mandatory parliamentary amendments, vetoed by Lula in this year’s Annual Budget Law.

The total amount vetoed is R$5.6 billion, but the government wing claims to have reached an agreement with Congress leaders worth around R$ 3.6 billion, with R$2.4 billion for the Chamber and R$1.2 billion for the Senate. This veto is scheduled to be analyzed next week during a session of the National Congress.

The federal government has maintained that it wants to raise more money, therefore, it has been sending articles since last year to increase revenue. However, opposition senators criticized the fact that the government had not yet started cutting public spending within the Executive itself.

In addition to criticizing the government’s action, senator Plínio Valério (PSDB-RJ) said that the DPVAT PL is an “extortion of the PT government from the population”.

The DPVAT PL

The project foresees that the new tariff will be administered by Caixa Econômica Federal. Payment must occur once a year, being mandatory for car and motorcycle owners. The amount of the fee has not yet been defined.

The matter aims to create new regulations for insurance, which will be part of a new fund, called Mandatory Insurance for the Protection of Traffic Accident Victims (SPVAT). The fee will apply to all motor vehicle owners. Furthermore, the tariff is seen by the Lula government as a way of generating a new means of revenue.

The text has a substitute that resumes the payment of medical expenses for accident victims and directs up to 40% of the amount collected. The prizes will be administered by Caixa.

Read also: “DPVAT returns? Lula government proposal foresees new type of traffic fine”

The government has no resources to pay victims of traffic accidents and other people who would be entitled to the benefit. Last year, Caixa needed R$230 million to pay amounts to beneficiaries, but had to postpone payments due to lack of money. The bank used the remains of what was collected until 2020, when the fee was abolished.

From November 15th to December 1st, 2023, around 1,500 people could not be covered by insurance. This is what the Private Insurance Superintendency (Susep) reports, an agency linked to the Ministry of Finance that oversees insurance claims.