Benefício de prestação continuada (BPC): uma análise dos desafios históricos enfrentados pelos requerentes e os possíveis impactos com as alterações da lei 15.077/2024

Abstract

The Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC) constitutes a central instrument of Brazilian social assistance, guaranteeing a minimum income to elderly individuals or persons with disabilities in situations of vulnerability. With the enactment of Law No. 15,077/2024, new rules emerged that directly impact the criteria for granting and maintaining the benefit. This regulatory reform has sparked debates regarding the compatibility of these changes with the fundamental rights established in the 1988 Federal Constitution. The research is based on the hypothesis that the changes introduced by the new legislation, under the justification of combating fraud and ensuring fiscal control, may impose disproportionate barriers to accessing the BPC, thus threatening the effectiveness of the principle of human dignity and potentially resulting in social regression. The general objective is to critically analyze the effects of Law No. 15,077/2024 on access to the BPC, in light of fundamental rights. This is a qualitative study, with a descriptive and exploratory approach, based on bibliographic, documentary, and jurisprudential review. Laws, decrees, specialized doctrine, and rulings from higher courts were analyzed to build a critical and updated foundation on the topic. It is concluded that although Law No. 15,077/2024 does not represent an immediate setback, it opens room for future administrative restrictions, particularly due to the dependence on infra-legal regulations. It is emphasized that the BPC should be understood as an expression of the minimum existential standard, and any attempt to instrumentalize it for merely fiscal purposes is deemed unconstitutional.