Brazil's deadline for meal vouchers to work on any card machine ends Saturday

The deadline for Brazil's meal voucher (VR) and food voucher (VA) operators to guarantee full interoperability ends on Saturday (Nov. 7). From then on, cards of any brand must be accepted on every card machine enabled for food payments, not only within each company's own merchant network. The requirement comes from Decree No. 12,712/2025, which gave the industry 360 days to adapt, and affects a market of more than 22 million benefit recipients, according to Metrópoles. In a statement to Exame, the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) said the deadline will not be extended.

The decree, signed in November 2025, overhauled the PAT (Worker Food Program), the federal program that grants tax incentives to companies that provide food benefits to employees. The changes were phased in. In February, a 3.6% cap took effect on the discount fee charged to restaurants and grocers on each sale, along with a 2% limit on the interchange fee paid by the card issuer to the acquirer (the card-machine company) and a maximum of 15 calendar days to pay merchants. Previously, according to Exame and Metrópoles, that period could exceed 30 days. In May, payment arrangements serving more than 500,000 workers had to become open, allowing other companies into the system.

The decree also bans discounts on the contracted amount, a practice in which operators offered rebates to employers. Part of the industry challenged the rules in court. According to Exame, Justice Cármen Lúcia of Brazil's Supreme Court (STF) rejected a lawsuit in September from ABBT, the association of worker-benefit companies. The MTE says there are currently no individual court rulings exempting PAT facilitators from complying with the decree.

What changes for companies

For companies that pay the benefit, the amount does not change automatically: it is still set by the employer and by collective bargaining agreements, and its use remains limited to food, with ready meals under VR and groceries under VA. The key issue is the contract with the operator. Under the decree, a facilitator that violates the ban on discounts faces the maximum fine under Law 6,321, which doubles for repeat offenses, along with cancellation of its PAT registration. Exame also notes that beneficiary companies, suppliers, facilitators and nutritionists registered with the PAT have until Nov. 9 to re-register in the program's new management system; those that fail to update their data may lose the tax incentives tied to the PAT.

For restaurants, bars and supermarkets, the change is likely to widen the pool of customers able to pay with the benefit without keeping separate accreditations and equipment for each brand. The transition, however, depends on operators and card-machine companies. Some operators told Metrópoles they received no manual during the adaptation period, and smaller operators reported difficulty obtaining terms from large supermarket chains similar to those granted to the big operators. Minutes from the PAT Management Committee, cited by the outlet, note that merchants using only TEF software (electronic funds transfer systems) face limits in processing voucher transactions.

For operators such as Alelo, Ticket, VR Benefícios, Pluxee, Flash and Swile, interoperability requires sharing their merchant networks. ABBT, which represents part of the industry, told Exame its main concern with the open arrangement is a loss of quality in merchant accreditation. Portability, which would let workers move their benefit to another operator, is not part of the decree and has no start date.

“The absence of a detailed rule does not remove companies' duty to comply with what has been determined.”

— Ministry of Labor and Employment, in a statement to Metrópoles (translated from Portuguese)

What to watch next

The next milestones are the end of the interoperability deadline on Saturday (Nov. 7) and the close of PAT re-registration on Monday (Nov. 9). After that, watch for enforcement by labor inspectors, reports of cards being declined at card machines during a transition that may be gradual, and any new court rulings or portability discussions in the PAT Management Committee.