The Government eliminated the financial compensation regime that the State paid to long-distance transportation companies for free tickets for people with disabilities, transplant recipients, and cancer patients. The measure was made official through the Resolution 28/2026 of the Ministry of Transportationpublished in the Official Gazette this Tuesday.
The eliminated scheme contemplated partial payment by the State of the free tickets that the companies were required to grant by law. From now on, Companies must continue providing these free tickets, but without receiving any compensation from the State for that concept. The resolution clarifies that the measure “does not affect the essential content of the right to free treatment,” which remains “fully valid and enforceable.”
The Government justifies the decision in the deregulation of the sector ordered by the Decree 883/2024which enabled carriers to freely determine routes, schedules and prices. According to the official text, the compensatory regime had been born in a context of state intervention in fares and was intended to “mitigate the economic imbalances” derived from free tickets. With deregulation, the Executive concludes that this structural cause “has been overcome” and that the continuity of the system is “unnecessary.”
The National Transport Regulation Commission (CNRT) was in charge of guaranteeing effective compliance with the obligations linked to the issuance of free tickets. The resolution also incorporates a transitional clause to protect previous situations to safeguard legal certainty. What the State saves in compensation, the companies will absorb as their own cost, without it being clear how they will guarantee the service in the long term.
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