Lula Government Rejects New App-Work Bill as Congress Sets Up Vote

Overview

• Relator Augusto Coutinho unveiled a new substitute on Tuesday for Brazil’s app-work bill, with a committee vote planned next week before a potential debate on the Chamber floor.
• The text keeps drivers and couriers as non-employees if they choose their hours, can refuse jobs, and have no exclusivity, and it requires clear rules for how apps use algorithms to assign work.
• Delivery workers could pick R$ 8.50 per short delivery or an hourly floor of R$ 14.74, while the bill sets no minimum fare for passenger trips.
• The proposal adds accident insurance with a R$ 120,000 minimum and creates a tailored social-security scheme in which workers pay 5% on 25% of their earnings and platforms pay 20% on the same base.
• The federal government now opposes the draft as a rollback, the industry group Amobitec warns it was rushed and could hurt income and access, and some deputies reject a minimum delivery fee, setting up a close fight in committee.