RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Muncipal Civil Secretary, Ailton Cardoso, explained that the purpose of the decree is to reduce the risk of exposure of the elderly to crowds and thus contact with the Covid-19. The decree provides that banks must provide alternative services to users.
“The decree is in line with recommendations from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization to avoid exposing the elderly. The fact is that today virtually all transactions may be made without needing to go to a bank branch, either over the Internet or by telephone. We have left the official banks out because typically these are the official institutions that pay court debts or other debts of a maintenance nature,” Ailton Cardoso explained.
In another decree, Mayor Crivella establishes rules for administrative requisitioning of products in the health area in case of abusive prices by the market or if the supplier refuses to sell supplies to the city hall.
The municipality defines as abusive an amount exceeding a ten percent variation, taking as a reference the maximum price charged for purchases of the same product/service made by the municipality in the past 12 months.
On March 22nd, Crivella decreed the closure of bank branches and most commerce in Rio, but reversed in relation to the banks.