Caixa branches have lines on the 1st day of Auxílio Brasil in São Paulo

The first day of payment of Auxílio Brasil, which replaces Bolsa Família, has lines of up to two hours waiting at Caixa branches in the east side of São Paulo. Most seek to clear up doubts and obtain information, and there are also cases of those who had to seek face-to-face assistance to resolve faults in the Caixa Tem application. There are also emergency aid beneficiaries withdrawing the last installment.

The city of Rio de Janeiro woke up this Wednesday (17) with queues at social assistance points due to doubts about the start of payments for the new program. In order to account for the increase in demand for assistance, the Municipal Social Assistance Secretariat states that it had to reinforce the teams in the Cras (Social Assistance Reference Centers) units.

In Salvador (BA), in an attempt to reduce the service lines, the city hall has provided appointments with the social assistance network.

In the Caixa agencies visited by the report in São Paulo, no one spent the night in line. People started arriving after 7:30 am on Wednesday (17), half an hour before branches opened, and lines increased around lunchtime.

Whoever received Bolsa Família automatically gets the new benefit. This is the case of Maria Silvia da Silva Oliveira, 32 years old. Unemployed, the cleaning lady was receiving emergency aid instead of Bolsa Família and went to the branch at Avenida Sapopemba, 13.446, in São Mateus, to collect the new social benefit.

“I saw on the Bolsa Família application that I’m going to receive R$149, but I’m finding very little. I received R$130 from Bolsa Família,” stated Maria.

Roberto Domingos Nogueira, 42, has been unemployed since 2019 and received the seven installments of emergency aid in lieu of Bolsa Família. Without a cell phone, he went to the agency to find out if he will receive the Brazil Aid and what the amount will be.

“Before the pandemic, I took recycling. Today, I work odd jobs and survive on the R$250 in aid. I want to know if I will only receive the R$91 from before,” he said.

Cash Failures

Beneficiary Nelci Dias do Nascimento, 60 years old, waited almost 2 hours in line in Itaquera, even with preferential service. She says that she was unable to generate the withdrawal code in the Caixa Tem application and that is why she had to seek assistance in person.

“I gave invalid code in the application, this had never happened. Now, will I have to come to Caixa every month and take a huge queue to generate this code and receive R$100? The attendant told me that I’m not the first to face this problem . Before, I generated the code and got the money at the lottery, without lines”, says Nelci.

General assistant Jakson Ferreira de Matos, 27, went to the São Mateus branch to solve problems at Caixa Tem. “I can’t do anything in the app. I came to try to get the last installment of the emergency aid,” he said.

Caixa states that, in addition to the Caixa Tem application, it is possible to consult information at ATMs, lottery shops, Caixa Aqui correspondents, Caixa branches and by telephone 111.

Whoever received the Bolsa Família automatically receives the Auxílio Brasil, according to the Ministry of Citizenship. In addition to the basic income, each family may receive complementary benefits, which vary between R$100 and R$200. The Auxílio Brasil will pay up to six complementary benefits.

According to Caixa, the cards and passwords used to withdraw from the Bolsa Família will remain valid and may be used to receive the Auxílio Brasil. Beneficiaries with a digital savings account will receive directly through Caixa Tem.

social assistance in Rio

The search for information about Auxílio Brasil triggered the demand for assistance at social assistance points in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In periods considered normal, each of these points served, on average, 70 people a day. Due to doubts about the new social program, the number rose to 200 people a day, indicates the Municipal Department of Social Assistance.

Rio has 47 units of Cras (Reference Center for Social Assistance). The city hall attributes the increase in demand to the lack of information, on the part of the federal government, about Brazil Aid. “The City Hall of Rio, through the Municipal Social Assistance Secretariat, is making an extraordinary effort to assist the citizens of Rio who have not received information from the federal government about the end of Bolsa Família. People are distressed and rightly so,” said the secretary in note.

According to the estimate released by the city, 2.5 million residents of Rio depend on income transfer programs to survive. Until October, 303,654 families were entitled to Bolsa Família, but 156,629 (51.6%) had outdated data, says the municipal administration.

To be a candidate for Brazil Aid, the family must be registered in the CadÚnico (Cadastro Único) and with up-to-date information. Registration is not done over the internet. It is necessary to go to the sector responsible for the Single Registry of the municipality to enroll. Usually, registration is done at city halls, at Cras, or at a service post of the Cadastro Único and the Bolsa Família program.

Salvador attends by appointment

In Salvador, the high demand for assistance made the city hall adopt the appointment system, to avoid queues and crowding at the service stations.

The city hall informed that, since last weekend, when the booking system was changed, more than 7,200 appointments had been made. City officials are helping those assisted in the registration process.

Scheduling can be done on the Fala Cidadão app, the Hora Marcada website and through WhatsApp.

Even with the change of service to an appointment, in the last few days agglomerations of people were registered who were unable to register or who went to try an appointment even without having scheduled.

The city hall informed that there was only agglomeration at the Commerce unit. At other stations, service continues smoothly and without queues.

In addition to Salvador, queues were also registered at service stations in Recife and Manaus. In the capital of Pernambuco, there were queues at Caixa Econômica Federal branches and at Social Assistance Reference Centers.

Box indicates service channels

In a statement, Caixa Econômica reinforced that those who receive Bolsa Família through the Caixa Tem application do not need to go to the branches, as these families “will receive Auxílio Brasil in the same payment modality and will be able to continue to use the application for their benefit”.

“The bank also clarifies that the cards and passwords used to withdraw from Bolsa Família will continue to be valid and can be used to receive Brazil Aid at the bank’s ATMs, lottery units and Caixa Aqui correspondents”, says the text.

According to Caixa, “A significant part of people in the bank’s queues are now seeking information about the new benefit”. With that, the orientation is to use the available service channels:

1. CAIXA Citizen Service, on telephone 111, free of charge;
2. www.caixa.gov.br/auxiliobrasil;
3. the Auxílio Brasil application, which replaces the Bolsa Família application;
4. Cash Tem app.

Brazil Aid | See payment schedule

How to receive on the new benefit

• Families in extreme poverty (monthly income of up to R$100 per person)
• Families in poverty (monthly income up to R$200 per person, according to current government standards) with pregnant women or people aged up to 21

YOU MUST BE REGISTERED IN THE REGISTRATION AND UPDATED INFORMATION

• Registration is normally done at city halls, at Cras (Social Assistance Reference Center), or at a service point of the Cadastro Único and the Bolsa Família Program

Present at least one document for each person in the family, from the following:

• Birth certificate
• Wedding certificate
• CPF
• RG
• work card
• voter registration card
• Administrative Registry of Indigenous Birth (Rani), if the person is indigenous

Source: Ministry of Citizenship