A PROTEÇÃO AO CONSUMIDOR IDOSO E O SUPERENDIVIDAMENTO: um estudo à luz da Lei n.º 14.181/2021

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of Law No. 14,181/2021, the so-called Over-indebtedness Law, in protecting elderly consumers from the offer of payroll loans. In this sense, since the beginning of the development of consumer rules, the focus has been on defining consumer rights and regulating matters such as the responsible offer of financial products. However, this regulation was initially broad and lacked any notable practical application, as it did not address the details of this regulation in detail. It is in this context that the aforementioned law came into being, with the aim of establishing clear rules on the offer of payroll loans, by amending rules such as the Consumer Protection Code (Law No. 8,078 of 1990) and the Elderly Statute (Law No. 10,741 of 2003). In this context, the question arises: is the legal protection provided by the creation of Law 14.181/2021 enough to effectively prevent and deal with over-indebtedness? That said, the work analyzes aspects such as the offer of consigned credit in the consumer market, ystematizes the protective legislation on the offer of credit, as well as delimiting the mechanisms of consumer protection in a scenario of over-indebtedness. The methodology used was bibliographical research with a qualitative pproach. To this end, extensive bibliographic and documentary research was carried out, including laws, informative publications, books, booklets, academic articles and websites. The work was based on authors such as Cláudia Lima Marques, Bruno Miragem and Leonardo de Medeiros Garcia. Thus, the main result reached indicates that the application of Law No. 14,181/2021, although it was a great advance in consumer matters, proves to be insufficient when used in isolation to prevent and treat over-indebtedness, especially among elderly consumers. Thus, it was concluded that it is essential that the application of the Law takes place in an integrated manner with financial education actions promoted by the Public Power, added to the strategic action of the Bodies of the National Consumer Protection System and the Judiciary. In this way, the law in question will be able to achieve its maximum potential effectiveness and fulfill the objectives for which it was established.