Illegal parking of vehicles on sidewalks and other prohibited places is the main complaint made by Rio residents to the call center of City Council 1746. There were 138,168 complaints from January to September this year, more than 500 complaints per day on average. The violation tends to occur more frequently at the end of the year, with the arrival of shopping, summer parties, and Christmas. Although the municipality has a contract to operate 33 trailers on the streets, which can be used to combat violations, a minutes published in the municipal gazette last week said the city only had “two to five trucks.”
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The city currently has 3.2 million registered vehicles. At a meeting with city hall technicians, the Undersecretary of the Secretariat of Public Order (Seop), Rodrigo Arno Schwarz, emphasized that “the low performance of the trailer represents a problem for the financial health of the Special Fund for Public Order.” The contract for collecting illegally parked vehicles is the main source of the fund, which was created in 2018 to help equip the Municipal Guard. At the end of October, revenues amounted to approximately R$11 million, while the budget law expected them to reach R$17 million, revenues representing 64% of what was expected.
“Sufficient quantity”
When contacted, the Minister of Public Order, Marcus Belchior, admitted that there were problems, but claims that the problem was specific.
— The number of trailers we have is sufficient to meet the demands. When towing is not possible, we impose fines on the offending driver. We know that there were flaws in the process, the company was fined and the contract amounts (unpaid) were canceled because of this – he says.
The contract was signed in August 2024 with Efatá Comércio e Serviços Ltda, a company that supplies the trailers, and is valid for two years. The total cost will be R$19.1 million. However, since April, the offshore company has been fined six times about R$185,000 for not providing the expected service. In August, the city council attempted to put out a tender for a replacement, but there were no interested parties.
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— We are still studying a new contract model to choose the future operator. Therefore, the new notice has not been issued yet. It is expected that everything will be resolved by the end of the first quarter of 2026. We must also increase the contracted fleet to 40 trailers – says Belchior.
Whether the number of trailers today is sufficient or not, the fact is that Seop statistics show a decline in the number of vehicles transported to public depots, which are located in Andaray and Guaratiba. Every two weeks Seop publishes notices mentioning the vehicles collected and notifying drivers, who have up to 60 days to pay fines, towing fees (from R$117.50 for motorcycles to R$470.03 for buses and trucks) and daily fees (from R$47.44 to R$189.94).
In October, only 20 vehicles were listed – far fewer than in the same month last year, when the total number of notifications reached 183. In October 2023, there were 147.
Yesterday, GLOBO was twice in Travisa Vasconcelos, in Andaray, where one of the city hall’s warehouses is located. In the morning, from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., no trailer entered or left the address. There were many cars parked on the sidewalks and under a no parking sign. In the afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., the violation continued. The gate was open and dusty vehicles could be seen as if they had been there for a long time. Efatá Comércio e Serviços Ltda declined to comment.
On the streets, there is a feeling among residents that the trailers have already disappeared.
– The situation has become worse. Orka’s inner streets are filled with vehicles parked in restricted areas, especially on weekends. Last month, a car spent the entire day parked in front of my garage. Since I am a member of the Security Council of the Second Division (Botafogo), I have direct contact with the municipal guard control body. I called and they told me there were no trailers, but they sent an agent to fine the car for parking illegally – said the president of the Urca Residents Association (Amour), Sissy Ferreira.
Fernando Moreira, president of the Morro da Viova Residents’ Association (Amov), also complains of unstable service provision:
-The situation is more dangerous on weekends. Previously, there were always at least two, or even three trailers throughout the area. Today, sometimes one appears. There is still a lack of more effective measures against signs advising drivers to stop irregularly, especially on Ruy Barbosa and Osvaldo Cruz streets and in the surrounding plazas.
The operation of Rio trailers has been a source of controversy for some time. In 2022, amid bribery accusations leveled by former council member Gabriel Montero – who was imprisoned until last March on rape charges -, the city council canceled the contract it had had since 2018 with JS Salazar. Until then, the company’s fees were tied to removal fees and daily deposit fees, about 80% of the total. Today, the city pays a fixed amount for services, regardless of how many cars are towed.