The Older Consumer and the Enhanced Protection of the Statute of Older Persons

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Brazil’s Consumer Defense Code expressly prohibits suppliers from taking advantage of a consumer’s weakness because of age, and the Statute of Older Persons adds priority service and a criminal offense of its own.

Protection for older consumers does not rest on legal theory or analogy. It is written into two texts that work together: the Consumer Defense Code of 1990, and Law 10.741 of October 1, 2003, renamed the Statute of Older Persons (Estatuto da Pessoa Idosa) by Law 14.423 of 2022.

The first treats age as a factor of heightened vulnerability within the consumer relationship. The second addresses older persons broadly, with priority rules, protective measures, and crimes of its own. Together they create a stricter regime for anyone who supplies products and services to this group.

Age as an Express Criterion of Protection in the Code

Article 39 of the Code lists abusive practices that suppliers may not engage in. The opening of the provision uses the phrase “among others,” which shows that the list is illustrative and allows a court to find abusiveness in conduct not described in the items.

Item IV is the most relevant to this subject. It prohibits suppliers from taking advantage of a consumer’s weakness or ignorance, in light of the consumer’s age, health, knowledge, or social condition, in order to foist their products or services on the consumer. Age appears in the text of the law, right alongside health and social condition.

Two points in the wording deserve attention. The verb “impingir” (to foist) describes pushing a product on someone who did not seek it, not an ordinary sale to a person who approached the supplier. And the prohibition does not require proof of economic loss: it is enough that the supplier exploited the person’s vulnerability to place the product.

Other items of the same article often appear together with it. Item I prohibits making the supply of one product or service conditional on the supply of another, a practice known as a tie-in sale (venda casada). Item III prohibits sending or delivering a product, or providing a service, without a prior request. Item V prohibits demanding a manifestly excessive advantage from the consumer.

As for basic rights, Article 6 guarantees adequate and clear information about products and services, and protection against deceptive and abusive advertising, against coercive or unfair commercial methods, and against abusive practices and clauses. Article 37 completes the picture by prohibiting all deceptive or abusive advertising, also through an open-ended list.

What the Statute of Older Persons Adds

The Statute governs the rights guaranteed to people aged 60 or older. Its Article 2 states that older persons enjoy all the fundamental rights inherent to the human person, without prejudice to the full protection provided for in the law itself.

Article 3 imposes on the family, the community, society, and the government the duty to ensure, with absolute priority, that rights are made effective, including life, health, citizenship, freedom, dignity, and respect. The guarantee of priority includes, among other measures, immediate and individualized preferential service from public and private bodies that provide services to the population.

The express reference to private providers is what makes this provision useful in consumer relationships. Banks, carriers, utilities, and service providers in general are all covered by the preferential service rule, which is not a commercial courtesy but a legal obligation.

Preferential service expressly extends to private providers of services to the public.

Article 4 is more forceful. It provides that no older person may be subjected to any form of neglect, discrimination, violence, cruelty, or oppression, and that any violation of their rights, by action or omission, will be punished as provided by law. Article 5 adds that failure to observe the prevention rules gives rise to liability for the individual or legal entity involved.

There is also Article 43, which authorizes protective measures whenever the rights recognized in the law are threatened or violated, including by the action or omission of society. This covers the conduct of suppliers, not just failures by the government or the family.

Credit, Payroll-Deduction Loans, and the Criminal Limit of Article 96

The Statute makes it a crime to discriminate against an older person by preventing or hindering their access to banking operations, means of transportation, the right to enter into contracts, or any other means necessary to exercise citizenship, on grounds of age. The penalty is imprisonment (reclusão) of 6 months to 1 year, plus a fine.

Paragraph 1 of the same article extends the penalty to anyone who disdains, humiliates, belittles, or discriminates against an older person for any reason. Paragraph 2 increases the penalty by one third when the victim is in the care or under the responsibility of the offender, which covers care facilities and caregivers.

Paragraph 3, added by Law 14.181 of 2021, sets an important and little-publicized limit: refusing credit because of over-indebtedness is not a crime. A refusal based on the person’s real ability to pay is lawful, and the rule protects consumers against excessive debt rather than forcing suppliers to extend credit.

The distinction is a practical one. Denying credit because of age, without examining financial capacity, comes close to the criminal offense. Denying credit because the person’s income is already overcommitted is conduct protected by law. Documentation of the institution’s analysis becomes decisive in any dispute.

Recurring Situations in Consumer Relationships

Pushy offers of a consignado loan (a loan repaid by automatic deduction from a benefit or paycheck) are the most frequent complaint. When the approach takes the form of a home visit, repeated phone calls, or exploitation of a moment of vulnerability, the conduct falls under Article 39, item IV, of the Code. For further reading, see the consumer harassment recognized in a visit to an older person.

Another situation is the sale of insurance, a capitalization bond, or an assistance plan tied to the loan, without any request from the borrower. This combines the tie-in sale of item I with the unsolicited supply of item III, and it allows the borrower to recover the amounts debited.

Another common situation is a deduction from a benefit or bank account for a service the person says they never requested. The dispute is resolved by proof of the contract, and the burden of that proof falls on whoever is charging. It can result in a refund of the amounts unduly charged. For further reading, see undue charges and the double refund.

Then there are barriers to access disguised as procedure: requiring in-person attendance for no technical reason, offering service only through an app with no alternative, or refusing preferential service. These practices implicate Article 3 of the Statute and, in extreme cases, Article 96.

How an Older Person Can Respond in Practice

The first step is documentation. It is wise to gather the contract, the statements showing the deductions, any recordings of customer service calls, and a record of complaints already made, because the dispute turns on showing what was contracted and what was actually charged.

Next, you can file a complaint with the supplier itself, expressly requesting cancellation and a refund, and also with consumer protection agencies. If a regulatory agency oversees the sector, an administrative complaint can proceed in parallel and has an oversight effect on the company.

Family often plays an important role, but care is needed: a fully capable older person makes their own decisions about their contracts, and replacing them without legal authority is an assault on their autonomy, which is protected by Article 10 of the Statute. The right kind of support is helpful, not substitutive.

If the charge or the refusal continues, the courts can be asked to declare the contract void, order the return of the amounts, and, where there has been significant harm, award damages. Signs of age discrimination or repeated abusive approaches also justify reporting the matter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público), which is responsible for the collective protection of older persons’ rights.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age does the Statute’s protection apply?

The Statute of Older Persons governs the rights guaranteed to people aged 60 or older, and that is the benchmark for priority service, protective measures, and the crimes it defines. Free urban and semi-urban public transit has a different benchmark, 65, and only requires a personal document proving age. The Consumer Defense Code’s prohibition, by contrast, sets no age: it forbids exploiting a consumer’s weakness because of their age, whatever that age may be.

Can a bank deny credit to an older person?

Yes, as long as the refusal is based on an analysis of ability to pay and not on age itself. The Statute itself, in Paragraph 3 of Article 96, states that refusing credit because of over-indebtedness is not a crime. It is a refusal based only on age, without examining financial conditions, that comes close to the criminal offense of discriminating against an older person by preventing or hindering access to banking operations and the right to enter into contracts.

Is a pushy loan offer an abusive practice?

It can be. Article 39, item IV, of the Code prohibits suppliers from taking advantage of a consumer’s weakness or ignorance, in light of their age, to foist products or services on them. Repeated approaches, unsolicited home visits, and exploitation of a moment of vulnerability are elements that support that classification. If the persistence leads to a signed contract, you can seek to have it declared void and the amounts returned, as well as file a complaint with consumer protection agencies.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.