Buyers and sellers of used cars will have the possibility to finalize the property transfer without needing to leave home, using a unified flow within the Brazilian CNH application. The legal basis for this operation at the national level was established by Resolution No. 1,027 of the National Traffic Council (Contran), which was approved on August 17th and published in the Official Gazette of the Union the following day.
Although the functionality in the application has not yet been launched and does not have a defined date, when released, it will allow registering the transaction, performing the electronic signature of the transfer, verifying and paying any debts and fees for the vehicle, and concluding the change of ownership all in one continuous process.
The implementation of this novelty is the responsibility of the National Traffic Secretariat (Senatran), an agency linked to the Ministry of Transport, and applies to transactions carried out between individuals involving used vehicles.
The resolution regulates an existing provision in the Brazilian Traffic Code and defines three forms of transfer: conventional, electronic, and electronically custodied. In the electronic modality, procedures are executed digitally, integrating with the National Registry of Motor Vehicles (Renavam).
The innovative mechanism lies in the electronically custodied modality. In this model, the amount paid for the vehicle is held in custody throughout the entire process and is only transferred to the seller after all transfer requirements have been met. This serves as protection against common situations where the buyer pays but does not receive the documentation, or delivers the car without receiving payment.
The standard also establishes procedures for cases where the deal encounters difficulties, providing mechanisms for blocking the process, reversing the operation, and returning funds to the buyer. To mitigate fraud risks, the text requires individual authentication of the parties, multi-phase verification, audit logs, and complete traceability of operations.
It is important to note that digitalization does not nullify all legal obligations. Vehicle identification inspection remains mandatory when legislation so dictates, implying taking the car to an accredited unit, following the guidelines of each state's Detran; however, the result of this inspection will be automatically entered into the system.
State fees related to the transfer will also continue to be charged. In return, the use of electronic signature eliminates the need for signature recognition at a notary office in procedures carried out via the application. Part of the infrastructure already existed, such as the Authorization for Electronic Vehicle Ownership Transfer (ATPV-e), digital signature, and sales notification, and the resolution aims to integrate these parts into a single procedure.