The budget shortage of Regulatory Agencies It has worsened in recent years, leaving public service inspection activities on the brink of collapse in areas involving billionaire contracts with the private sector and affect millions of consumers, such as electricity and health plans.
Nothing indicates a scenario change. Survey made by CNN It points out that the budget of agencies for 2025 is significantly lower than the request made by the regulatory bodies themselves to reverse their recent losses.
“Essential resources are missing,” says the president of the Brazilian Association of Regulatory Agencies (ABAR), Vinícius Benevides.
Between 2020 and 2024, the available budget plummeted. In values updated by inflation, the fall was:
- 42% at the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANP)
- 40% at the National Agency for Supplementary Health (ANS)
- 37% at the National Land Transportation Agency (ANTT)
- 32% at the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel)
- 19% at the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel)
- 3% at the National Mining Agency (ANM)
A National Agency for Water and Basic Sanitation (ANA)who has suffered a cut close to 40% in the last five years, warns of the risks of maintaining the existing hydrological monitoring network in the country.
“We are increasingly difficult to continue with these 23,000 active points,” he told CNN The agency’s president, Veronica Sanchez, noting that the network encompasses a monitoring of the dog head region (in northern Amazonas) to the far south gaucho.
“When we lose the ability to maintain this equipment, we have less data to make qualified decisions and project phenomena such as floods in Rio Grande do Sul or the Amazonian droughts,” adds Veronica.
A study recently released by Ana points out that the use of data in the configuration and implementation of alert system for extreme climate events can avoid losses of up to $ 661 for every $ 1 invested.
For 2025, Ana asked the government a budget of $ 257 million. The proposal sent by the Ministry of Planning and Budget to the National Congress provided much less: R $ 207 million.
One of the most dramatic cases is that of Anneelwhich today has only 47 inspectors to monitor 103 energy distributors, 171,000 kilometers of transmission lines and 30,000 generating units. Travel for local inspections are being restricted.
For comparison purposes: a ArsespRegulatory Agency of São Paulo, has 25 professionals focused on the inspection activities only in the state.
In addition to the shortage of personnel, the agency has taken steps to reduce costs that already impact the services provided.
The Ombudsman’s Office Hours, which previously operated 24 hours a day, was reduced to the period from 8am to 8pm.
The main information technology contract that serves Aneel was cut at 25%. And structural reforms in the headquarters building had to be suspended.
The irony, in the case of Aneel, is that it has its own source of financing. The inspection fee of the Electricity Service (TFSEE), charged from the sector dealers, raised more than R $ 1.2 billion in 2024 – less than one third was effectively passed on to the agency.
Senator Laércio Oliveira (PP-SE) presented, last week, two bills that seek to preserve the cash of regulatory agencies and remove the risk of scrapping in the face of financial containment.
Bill 1374/25 and Complementary Bill 73/25 prevent, for example, from budget cuts related to the agencies’ core activity where it is funded by their own revenues-such as ANEEL’s inspection fee, the collection of ANTT fines on highway and railway concessionaires, a portion of mining royalties for ANM.
“The budgetary restriction on the core activities of these institutions can have an adverse effect: the increase in inefficiencies and the expansion of risks in regulated sectors,” says the senator in justifying one of the texts.
“Such risks include interruptions of essential services, market failures and legal uncertainties that discourage new investments.”
The Brazilian Association of Regulatory Agencies, which often dialogues with members of Parliament, believes that the solution must go through the hands of Congress.
“There were approved the laws that are in force, which gave administrative, financial and regulatory autonomy to the agencies. It is important that Congress review the laws that approved and can guarantee a minimum value for agencies,” said the president of Abar.
Other cases
ANS, responsible for the regulation and supervision of health plans, reported negotiating cuts last year with suppliers of products and services that represent more than 50% of its monthly costs.
Even so, according to the agency, there is impacts on technological evolutions of internal systems; reimbursement charges of Unified Health System (SUS); inspection actions; economic monitoring of the market.
“Although the damage and challenges are significant, the Board of Directors, the agency’s servers and other employees have done everything possible to maintain the progress of processes and work,” ANS’s communication advisory said in a statement to the note CNN.
“But it is certain that, without perspectives and without guarantees of the necessary funds, eventually the situation will have outcomes that will compromise services to society.”
ANM, in turn, stated that budget restrictions have hindered to fulfill its institutional mission.
“Dam monitoring activities, tailings, mining inspections, royalties collection and expansion of mining areas to promote activity in the country could be affected,” the agency said.
ANM requested R $ 179.5 million from the government as a budget for 2025. The amount actually approved by the National Congress was R $ 115.7 million.
In the case of ANP, the budget request to the Ministry of Planning was $ 255 million to 2025. The proposal suggested by the government to Congress, however, was $ 140 million.
“It is not foreseen to stop activities, but there may be impacts on actions such as: fuel market inspection and maritime production units [de petróleo e gás]; the execution of the fuel quality monitoring program; Modernization of the Technological Park, such as at the Center for Technological Research (CPT/ANP) and Exploration and Production Database (BDEP); Costing of administrative activities; Information Technology Investments and Training Actions of ANP Servers. ”
