Brazil Customer Service Decree (2026)

Law & policy information

Name
Consumer Service Decree

Jurisdiction
Brazil; specified regulated consumer services

Instrument type
Presidential decree implementing the Consumer Defence Code

Legal citation
Decreto nº 13.135, de 9 de outubro de 2026

Status
In force

Effective date
November 2, 2026

Last source verification
November 2, 2026 — complete 25-article decree and commencement reporting reviewed

Brazil’s Decree 13.135 regulates consumer assistance through the Serviço de Atendimento ao Consumidor (SAC). It expressly permits AI-assisted triage, internal routing and resolution while requiring access to real-time human assistance under its prescribed conditions.

Commencement and scope

The decree was published in the Diário Oficial da União on October 13. Article 25 provides a twenty-day transition, producing November 2, 2026 commencement; Article 24 repeals Decree 11.034/2022.

Article 1 covers suppliers of federally regulated products and services meeting the competent regulator’s criteria, and specified digital financial, payment and credit services supervised or regulated by the Central Bank. Article 2 separately requires intermediary, passenger-transport and delivery platforms to submit consumer-assistance models and specified complaint, resolution and satisfaction information to Senacon, in the form and period to be established. These provisions should not be treated as one uniform obligation for every business with a website or chatbot.

AI assistance and access to people

Articles 3–4 permit automation, including AI, while preserving a human-assistance option. Access to the SAC and transfer to a person are free and cannot depend on consumers supplying personal data first. The decree requires accessible channels and prioritised assistance for older people; personal-data processing remains subject to Brazil’s data-protection law.

At least one electronic channel must operate continuously. Human assistance is generally required from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, on electronic and telephone channels. Human telephone assistance for urgent demands must be immediate and available at any time. The decree permits specified sectoral rules and suspensions when the underlying service is unavailable.

Menus are limited to five levels. During the prescribed hours, consumers must be able to select a person at every level, including the first. For telephone calls, the default waiting limit is twenty seconds for at least 80% of demands and 300 seconds for the remainder, subject to specific sectoral rules.

Records, resolution and enforcement

The decree provides protocols and access to assistance histories, retention of histories for at least six months after resolution, and retention of calls and exchanged messages for at least ninety days. Non-urgent demands generally require a response within seven calendar days. Cancellation, interrupted calls and unauthorised charges have separate procedures and time limits.

Senacon may inspect and sanction non-compliance without displacing other consumer-protection bodies’ or sector regulators’ powers. Regulators retain specified implementation responsibilities, including scope criteria, accessibility and urgent-demand categories. Commencement establishes the decree’s legal operation, rather than proving universal implementation by covered suppliers.

Related coverage

• Brazil AI Law and International directory: Brazil
• Consumer service and automated assistance
• November 2 news: human-assistance commencement

References