R$ 30 billion. That is the credit volume President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva secured on Monday (Sept 14) by signing into law the bill that makes Move Brasil, the federal program that subsidizes car loans for gig drivers, permanent, with no expiry date. For a ride app driver, it means the subsidized line to buy a new car stays open for as long as funds last at BNDES, Brazil's development bank.
The ceremony took place at the Planalto presidential palace, with Lula receiving drivers, 20 days before the first round of the presidential election on October 4. It happened on the same day a Quaest poll put Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), Lula's rival, numerically ahead in a runoff scenario, as Poder360 reported. The law is the final step of a provisional decree issued in June, amended by the lower house in late August and approved by the Senate the next day; the decree would have expired on September 15, one day after the signing.
The rules got lighter: the minimum time registered on a ride app drops from 12 months to 6, and the driver must have completed at least 100 rides on the same platform in that period. Payment terms now run up to 84 months, seven years, up from 72. The vehicle price cap stays at R$ 200,000, a ceiling already raised from R$ 150,000 in August after uptake fell short of expectations.
Interest is 12.6% a year for men and 11.5% for women, for cars and motorcycles, bank fees included, according to G1. Each worker can finance one vehicle, and the law extends the credit to taxi drivers, school van drivers, cargo utilities and accessibility adaptations for people with disabilities. According to the government, the August adjustments had already widened the program's potential reach from 63% to 88% of the vehicle market, nearly nine in ten models on sale.
How the balloon payment works
Contracts use a variable amortization system, known in Brazil as prestação balão (balloon payment): installments start smaller and grow over the years as the worker's income and productivity rise. The idea is to spare the household budget early on, when the new car has just left the dealership. Those who earn more by the end of the contract pay larger installments.
What it costs the Treasury
Development, Industry and Trade Minister Márcio Elias Rosa said R$ 25 billion remain available to keep the program running, according to demand. BNDES coordinates the program, while Caixa and Banco do Brasil handle the loans, backed by a public fund, the FGO (Fundo Garantidor de Operações, an operations guarantee fund), which covers 80% of each loan. According to R7, Move Brasil has financed 48,000 vehicles so far; the remaining R$ 25 billion could fund up to 125,000 cars at the R$ 200,000 cap, more than double what has been delivered.
The R$ 30 billion cited by the government is the volume of credit BNDES can lend over time. In the line for app and taxi drivers, the money comes from the National Treasury, which pays the gap between market rates and the program's rate. According to Poder360, the government has yet to release a projection of the measure's total cost on a permanent basis.