Brazil's meal and food vouchers: new PAT rules and what changes in November

November 2026 brings the most visible stage of the reform of Brazil's PAT (Programa de Alimentação do Trabalhador, the Worker Food Program): under Decreto nº 12.712/2025, meal and food voucher cards — VR and VA, short for vale-refeição and vale-alimentação — from any issuer must start working at every enabled card machine in the accredited network. The rules on fees, merchant settlement and employer rebates have applied since February, and the decree remains in force despite the court challenges. Another deadline falls in the same month: companies registered in the PAT have until November 9 to re-register in the new system of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE).

This article reflects the rules and the status of the court cases on its publication date.

What Decree 12.712 changed

Published on November 12, 2025, the decree amended Decreto nº 10.854/2021, which regulates the PAT, and reached the entire benefit chain. The key points:

• Fee caps: the merchant discount rate (MDR) charged to restaurants and grocery stores is capped at 3.6%, including an interchange fee of up to 2%. Any additional charge is banned.
• Faster settlement: merchants must be paid within 15 calendar days. According to the MTE, the previous average was 30 days.
• Open arrangements: issuers serving more than 500,000 workers can no longer keep card issuing, merchant acquiring and settlement inside a closed network.
• Full interoperability: payment arrangements must share the accredited merchant network, with no discrimination against transactions from other card brands.
• No perks for employers: the contract with the issuer cannot provide for rebates (deságio), discounts on the contracted amount, payment terms that undermine the prepaid nature of the benefit, or perks unrelated to food, such as gym memberships, health plans or credit. Non-compliant contracts cannot be renewed.

The ban on rebates was already in Lei nº 14.442/2022. The decree reinforced it: an issuer that offers such perks faces the maximum fine and, if it does so again, loses its PAT registration.

The rules also apply outside the PAT

In July, the MTE stated that the decree applies to every company that provides VA or VR, whether or not it is registered in the PAT, and deemed it irregular to split a worker's balance into categories such as “Auxílio PAT” and “Auxílio CLT” in order to charge different fees or terms. Fines range from R$5,000 to R$50,000, doubled for repeat offenses or for obstructing inspections, and non-compliant companies may lose incentives such as the deduction from corporate income tax (IRPJ).

Timeline

Date	What happens
Nov 12, 2025	Decree published; the ban on rebates and indirect perks applies
Feb 10, 2026	Fee caps, ban on extra charges and 15-day settlement take effect
May 11, 2026	Arrangements serving over 500,000 workers must be open
Jul 22, 2026	MTE states that the rules also apply outside the PAT
September 2026	MTE opens a 60-day window for PAT re-registration
Nov 7, 2026	End of the 360-day deadline for full interoperability
Nov 9, 2026	Last day to re-register, according to the MTE

The MTE refers to interoperability “in November 2026.” The November 7 date follows the same count that produced February 10 and May 11: 360 days after publication. By the same deadline, issuers with contracts with states, the Federal District and municipalities must apply the 15-day settlement to those contracts.

The court battle

Between January and February 2026, large issuers obtained preliminary injunctions against parts of the decree. On February 24, at the request of the Office of the Attorney General (AGU), the president of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3) suspended most of them, according to Bloomberg Línea. In May, the issuers' association (ABBT) took the matter to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) in a direct action of unconstitutionality, ADI 7962. In September, according to the legal news site ConJur, the rapporteur, Justice Cármen Lúcia, dismissed the action without ruling on the merits, finding that any unconstitutionality would be only indirect.

The decree is in force, but the debate is not over: the suspension of the injunctions is provisional, and the merits of the cases may still be decided.

What changes for employers

The contract with the issuer

With rebates off the table, negotiations with issuers now revolve around the administration fee, the accredited network and service quality. Ask the issuer for its interoperability plan in writing, check whether it splits balances under different conditions and review the clauses before renewing.

An example: a company with 200 employees who each receive R$800.00 a month in VA credits R$160,000.00 to the cards, and that amount must reach the workers in full, with nothing flowing back to the company as a discount, bonus or credit. At the other end, on a R$50.00 meal, the restaurant pays at most R$1.80 in fees (3.6%) and receives the rest within 15 days.

Re-registration in the new PAT system

MTE ordinances (portarias) 1.582 and 1.599, issued in September 2026, require beneficiary companies, food suppliers, card issuers and nutritionists to fully re-register in the new system (novopat.trabalho.gov.br), signing in with a gov.br account, the federal government's digital ID. Old data is not migrated, and anyone who misses the deadline is automatically removed from the program and may only apply again later, under the rules then in force. According to the minutes of the September meeting of the PAT steering committee, only about 25% of beneficiary companies had completed the process. Since the ordinance's wording also allows the period to be counted from September 8, which would end it on November 7, the safest course is not to leave it to the last week.

Guidance for the team

The decree makes employers responsible for guiding workers on the proper use of the benefit. In TIRVU+, VA/VR, transportation vouchers (VT), health plans and insurance are recorded per employee and integrated with payroll, and the employee portal lets HR send announcements through the app to teams spread across many sites.

What employees need to know

• The amount does not change. The rules deal with how the system works.
• Use remains restricted to food. There are no cash withdrawals or exchanges for money, and the card cannot be used for gyms, pharmacies or courses.
• The balance is yours. Under Decreto 10.854/2021, credited amounts can be used even after you leave the company.
• Acceptance should grow gradually. After the November deadline, the card should work at enabled machines of accredited merchants, whatever the issuer. According to the steering committee's minutes, however, some supermarkets have not yet updated their checkout systems for the so-called voucher rail, the dedicated path for benefit transactions.
• If your card is refused: check the network in the issuer's app, ask the cashier to use the voucher or benefit option, tell HR and file a complaint with the issuer. Irregularities can be reported through MTE channels.

What about portability? Free switching of issuers at the worker's request is provided for in Lei 14.442/2022, but it was left out of the decree's timeline and had no official schedule as of publication.

What to watch in November

• Interoperability. The PAT interministerial steering committee (MTE, Ministry of Finance and the Chief of Staff's Office) made the topic a priority in September and reported talks with acquirers and registration companies to remove obstacles. It can issue supplementary rules and even change the fee caps.
• The new PAT system deadline, since companies that are removed must apply again from scratch.
• Court rulings that could change how the rules apply to specific issuers.

What to do now

• Re-register the company in the new PAT system by November 9
• Review contracts: no rebates, discounts, bonuses or indirect perks
• Do not renew contracts that fail to comply with the decree
• Ask the issuer for its interoperability plan
• Check whether workers' balances are split with different fees or terms
• Tell the team the usage rules and what to do if a card is refused
• Review the benefits policy and the 2027 budget
• Follow the steering committee and court decisions

FAQ

Do companies outside the PAT have to follow the new rules?

Yes. According to the MTE, the rules apply to every company that provides VA or VR, as well as to card issuers and acquirers.

Will my card work at any card machine in November?

That is the goal of the decree, but it applies to enabled machines at accredited merchants, and the rollout may be uneven at first.

Can the company still receive discounts from the issuer?

No. Rebates, discounts on the contracted amount and indirect perks are banned.

Conclusion

The PAT reform affects costs, contracts and the daily routine of everyone who uses the card. For HR and payroll teams, November brings two tasks: re-registering the company and preparing the team for interoperability, with reviewed contracts and clear communication. When planning next year, also factor in the 2027 minimum wage adjustment.

Want to organize benefits per employee and keep your team informed through the app? Talk to the Tirvu team and see TIRVU+ working in your own operation.

Sources

• Chamber of Deputies: Decreto nº 12.712/2025
• MTE: PAT questions and answers (May 2026)
• MTE: rules apply to all companies (Jul 22, 2026)
• MTE: re-registration in the new system (Sep 10, 2026)
• MTE: minutes of the 2nd PAT Steering Committee meeting (September 2026)

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace specialized legal advice.