Brazil’s CNH exceeds 1.6 million applications in less than 20 days after launch
Less than three weeks after launch, Brazil’s CNH program has already accumulated more than 1.6 million open processes to obtain a driver’s license across the country, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.
The initiative, presented as a structural reformulation of the qualification model, has registered strong support since it came into force on December 9th.
São Paulo leads the volume of requests, with 286,733 requests, followed by Minas Gerais, with 171,811, and Rio de Janeiro, which totals 152,315 processes. The program’s digital platform has also surpassed the mark of 30 million registered users, while the training course for independent traffic instructors has over 100 thousand registered users.
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The numbers reinforce the reach of the new model, created to address a historic bottleneck in access to licenses. Today, only 46% of the Brazilian population has a driver’s license, while around 20 million people drive without the document, largely due to the high cost and complexity of the traditional process.
Brazil’s CNH is committed to digitalization and making requirements more flexible. The theoretical course began to be offered free of charge online, and the minimum number of practical classes was reduced from 20 to 2 hours. Candidates can choose between accredited independent instructors or driving schools, which increases competition and tends to reduce prices.
Additional changes came with Provisional Measure No. 1,327, which created benefits for drivers registered in the National Positive Driver Registry. Among the measures are the automatic renewal of the driver’s license for those who have not committed infractions in the 12 months prior to expiration, the exemption from the printed version of the document and the establishment of a national ceiling of R$180 for medical and psychological examinations.
For the Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, the program seeks to correct distortions in a system considered exclusionary. “Brazil’s CNH was designed to guarantee the right to a license. The process was expensive, time-consuming and alienated millions of Brazilians. The new model expands access, reinforces traffic safety and promotes social inclusion”, he stated.
The assessment within the Ministry of Transport is that the speed of adoption indicates repressed demand and suggests that the impact of the program can go beyond the regularization of drivers, with effects also on urban mobility, the job market and the formalization of professionals who depend on the driver’s license to generate income.
