Brazil Public Defenders File Suit to Have New R$200 Banknotes Removed from Circulation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Public Defender’s Office (DPU) has filed a Public Civil Class Action petitioning the court to order the Central Bank to suspend the production of the R$200 bill (US$40). In the process, the defenders allege “lack of accessibility,” since the banknotes have the same dimensions as the R$20 bill.

“The failure to identify the new banknote by people with visual impairments, as it creates exclusion and damages to the exercise of the rights of this community, typifies discrimination by the Public Administration,” reads an excerpt of the document.

The action was filed Friday, October 9th, and is signed jointly by the Public Defender’s Office of the Federal District and the National Organization of the Blind of Brazil. The measure also seeks to impose a fine of R$50,000 per day in case of non-compliance.

On its website, the Central Bank stated the choice for the identical dimensions of the R$200 and R$20 banknotes was due to the “short time frame” to place the new banknote in circulation. The banknote was released on September 2nd.

The bank also reported that to produce the new banknote in a larger format, “with the proper combination of safety features, it would require adapting the plant, which was not feasible within the available time frame.”

“As the new banknote’s format already exists, its adaptation to ATMs and other automatic equipment that accept and dispense banknotes will be faster.”

Other measures

In the document, the Public Defender’s Office also requests that the Court order the recall of all R$200 banknotes now in circulation, in addition to barring the Central Bank from producing new banknotes with sizes equal to any other banknotes already in circulation.

In September, the Federal District Attorney’s Office had already recommended that the bank and the Mint make changes. These recommendations, however, were not followed.

At the time, the Federal District’s Public Defender’s Office reported that it was “studying a suitable judicial measure to challenge the National Monetary Council’s decision”.

“We were advised by the Central Bank that they needed to place the banknotes on the market as soon as possible because of the pandemic. And that there would be accessibility, since the banknotes have tactile markings, although they are not different in size.”

What the visually impaired say

The reporter spoke with visually impaired individuals to understand their difficulties in differentiating the banknotes. Consultant Fernando Rodrigues Hiacovvith, 32 years old, said that in September he handed over a R$200 bill, by mistake, when making a payment.

“I got confused when paying for a R$12 purchase. I handed over the R$200 note, and the boy said that he wouldn’t have change. So I had to take all the money out of my pocket for him to help me identify the R$20 bill,” said Fernando, adding that “the R$200 bill is the same size as the R$20 bill, it is tricky. I have to rely on people’s good faith.”

Nursing assistant Larissa Pâmela Almeida Rodrigues, 31, also faces the challenges of accessibility on a daily basis. She has had poor eyesight since she was 20 years old when she lost part of her vision due to diabetes complications.

“As a partial visually impaired person, I need help to read a bus sign, go to the bank and I struggle to differentiate some money banknotes because they are very similar,” she says, adding that “often images are not sharp enough for people with minimal eyesight or for those with total disability.”

As for so many other blind people, for Larissa, the greatest challenge today is to differentiate between the R$20 and R$200 banknotes. “There is no accessibility because neither of them has a single point to differentiate them in Braille. The only way is the high relief, which indicates if they are real or not.”

Moreover, the nursing assistant also tends to confuse the R$2 and R$100 banknotes, because of color similarities – although the latter is much larger than the former. Among coins, she says that the R$0.05 and R$0.10 “are virtually inaccessible for a person with poor eyesight.”

Source: G1