Banco da Itapemirim will suspend activities and customers will need to transfer money

In the midst of a judicial recovery process, the Itapemirim Group announced this Friday (25) that it will temporarily suspend the activities of Ita Bank on March 7, the deadline for the 2,700 customers to transfer money from their accounts.

According to a company statement, the suspension is due to a platform change. Account holders must transfer the balance via Pix or TED until the system is restored, on a date “to be informed”.

The company is going through a troubled moment. On February 18, judge Luciana Menezes Scorza, from the São Paulo State Court of Justice, dismissed businessman Sidnei Piva, then president of the company, “from any position in the judicial reorganization process that, in theory, allows him to spend efforts to divert resources to any parallel company, especially [principalmente] for the ITA group”.

The Ita Bank digital account service began to be offered in 2021, the same year in which, already in judicial recovery, the company inaugurated its air operation. In December of last year, less than seven months after the launch of the airline industry, services were abruptly interrupted.

In the height of travel and holiday season, the cancellation of several flights caused protests in airport lounges. Procon-SP estimated that around 130 thousand passengers were impacted in December.

The airline, which offered a minimum service on board, was already facing a cash shortage with mismatched crew payments, which led to actions by the category union.

In early December, Piva stated during the Panrotas Forum 2021 that Itapemirim had airfare prices that did not cover the operating cost. Even with high inflation and the weak economy in the country, the businessman said that the company was holding back increases.

At the end of January, the company withdrew its request to ANTT (National Land Transport Agency) to suspend service in 73 markets, which involve 16 lines. The initial request had come from the company itself in December.

According to the Itapemirim press office, the company carried out an operational readjustment and assessed that it would be possible to continue operating the bus lines. ANTT accepted the company’s request.