Amounts collected from debts each year
(Values in R$)
The rule also stipulates that amounts not paid in the manner and within the established deadlines will be included in the Union’s active debt. Furthermore, if there is evidence that any public agent contributed to committing fraud during the family’s registration with CadÚnico, the information will be sent to investigation by the competent police authority.
The data indicates that debts relating to benefit payments in 2019 were the largest, totaling more than R$6 million. The previous two years also present relevant debts ranging from R$2.1 million to R$3.2 million.
Blocks due to non-compliance with conditions
To join the program, the main rule is that the family must have a monthly income of up to R$218 per person. Registration data must be up to date. Those chosen must still fulfill commitments in the areas of health and education, which are called conditionalities.
Bolsa Família requires school attendance for children and adolescents between 4 and 17 years old, prenatal care for pregnant women, nutritional monitoring (weight and height) of children up to 6 years old and the maintenance of an updated vaccination booklet, with the immunizations provided for in the National Immunization Program of the Ministry of Health.
According to data from the Ministry of Citizenship, published on the Vis Data platform, there were more than 1.3 million incidents of non-compliance with these conditions across the country this year. The vast majority of situations generated only warnings. However, due to the infractions committed, there were 192 thousand suspensions of benefits and 297 thousand temporary blocks.
In relation to the Federal District alone, there were at least 8,135 warnings, 2,103 blockages and 755 suspensions. The number is much lower than in São Paulo, the state with the most incidents of non-compliance with benefit conditions, where there were more than 100 thousand suspensions.
Registrations will be passed “cleanly”, said Haddad
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated, at the end of November, that social programs such as Bolsa Família will be passed “cleanly” to ensure that those who are entitled are not harmed by registration fraud. According to the federal portfolio holder, “there are a lot of incompatibilities that need to be corrected”.
“Some things that worked will be extrapolated, such as biometrics and re-registration, which will be brought forward due to what was found in the last six months. It is very clear to us that we will have to clean up, within a shorter period of time than announced in July, the set of measures to clean up the registrations of large social programs”, he stated.
Haddad also pointed out that the measure will affect “all programs”. “Everyone will have to undergo biometrics. All programs. And the re-registration deadlines will be shortened by law so that this monitoring becomes commonplace, in light of what has been found since July”, he added during a press conference on the public spending review package, which should guarantee savings of R$ 71.9 billion in the next two years.
He cited the case of the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC), paid to low-income elderly people and people with disabilities, which exceeded the Budget by R$7 billion. Haddad highlighted that a review of the program is planned, but highlighted that there is no change in concept, just “clarity of what we need to do to proceed under visible conditions”.
At the end of August, the economic team of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) reported details of a fine-tooth comb in social benefits. By reviewing these expenses, the federal government estimates saving R$25.9 billion in mandatory expenses. It is worth remembering that the benefits actions, announced in August, are present in the 2025 budget piece.
