The due date of a bill may seem like an administrative detail, but for millions of consumers it's part of their monthly financial planning. With the aim of preventing changes without prior notice and reducing inconvenience for customers, a new state law establishes rules for utility companies and service providers wishing to change the payment dates of their bills in Rio de Janeiro.
Published this Friday (29) in the Official Gazette, Law 11.202/26 determines that electricity, gas, water, telephone, pay television and internet companies will not be able to unilaterally change the due date of bills without consultation and express authorization from the consumer. The rule was authored by state deputy Dionísio Lins and was approved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) before being sanctioned by the Executive.
Change depends on authorization.
Under the new legislation, any change must be preceded by notification to the consumer at least 30 days in advance. Companies will also have to provide clear justifications for the change and guarantee that the measure will not cause harm to customers.
The text also stipulates that the change can only occur with the express consent of the consumer, either physically or electronically. The law prohibits the practice of presumed consent, meaning that the customer's silence cannot be interpreted as authorization.
Another provision of the regulation guarantees the consumer, at the time of contracting the service, the possibility of choosing the most suitable due date from among the options made available by the company.
Protection against service interruption
The legislation also seeks to prevent situations in which consumers are harmed by changes made without their knowledge.
According to the text, changing the due date cannot be used as justification for suspending or interrupting service due to non-payment when the customer has not been previously informed and consulted about the change.
According to the author of the proposal, the measure responds to recurring complaints from consumers who report unexpected changes in payment dates.
“In many cases, companies implement these changes without even properly informing or notifying consumers. There are even situations where services are suspended and customers are considered delinquent, only to be surprised by the imposition of fines and interest, which generates financial losses and disruption to the family budget,” stated Dionísio Lins.
The section regarding fines was vetoed.
Although the original proposal included specific mechanisms for oversight and punishment, part of the text was ultimately vetoed by the acting governor, Ricardo Couto.
Among the removed provisions was the attribution to the State Government of the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the regulation and applying penalties in case of non-compliance. The project stipulated a warning for the first infraction and fines between 1 and 15 UFIR-RJ, values that currently correspond to approximately R$ 4.960 and R$ 74.400. In cases of repeated offenses, the penalty could be doubled.
The allocation of funds raised to the Special Fund for Support of Consumer Protection and Defense Programs (Feprocon) was also vetoed.
Executive's justification
In the justification presented for the vetoes, the State Government argued that the application of sanctions is already governed by state regulations in force and by the procedures adopted by Procon-RJ.
According to the Executive branch, maintaining these provisions could lead to legislative overlap and conflicts of interpretation regarding the limits of penalties applicable to companies, which is why it opted to remove these sections from the new law.
With the enactment of Law 11.202/26, consumers now have an additional guarantee to avoid unexpected changes in their bills and strengthen control over the planning of their monthly expenses.
Leave a comment