Brazil — Código de Defesa do Consumidor art. 49 and the e-commerce decree

The clocks it starts

• Brazil: withdrawal window (7 days)Article 49 of the Consumer Defence Code gives the consumer seven days to withdraw, counted from signing the contract or from receiving the product or service, whichever is later. No reason is needed. Any sum already paid must be returned IMMEDIATELY and with monetary correction — the article says so in terms. This is one of the cleanest consumer rights anywhere and Brazilian suppliers know it. It reaches: any consumer contract concluded away from the supplier's commercial premises, which expressly includes contracts made by telephone and at home — and which the courts and the e-commerce decree treat as covering online contracts.Código de Defesa do Consumidor, art. 49 and sole paragraphFiling window
• General civil limitation period (varies — check locally)Limitation periods for consumer contract claims in the countries in this file range from about one year to ten and are not something we state per country. Two years is shown as a prompt to check, not as the law. A continuing course of charges usually restarts the clock, so a subscription still billing is rarely out of time.Limitation period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

• Cancellation, effective from the date of your noticeSend a dated written cancellation naming the account, the subscription and the date you want it to end, and keep the proof. Say in terms that any further charge is unauthorised — that sentence is what turns the next debit into a payment dispute you can win without arguing about the subscription at all.art. 49 — the consumer may withdraw from a contract within 7 days of signing or of receiving the product or service, where the contract was concluded away from the supplier's premises
• Revocation of the payment authority with your bankDo not rely on the merchant to stop billing. Tell the card issuer or bank to cancel the recurring authority and to block further authorisations from that merchant descriptor. This works even where the merchant is unresponsive and even where it is abroad.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

Where to take it next

1. 01Written cancellation and refund demand to the traderOne document: cancel, demand refund of anything taken after your first cancellation attempt, cite the instrument named in this result, and give a short deadline. Ask for written confirmation of the cancellation date — that document is what every later step needs.Claim direct·typically 14 days
2. 02Card dispute for the post-cancellation chargesRun this in parallel rather than afterwards. Scheme dispute windows are commonly 120 days from the charge, which is shorter than any consumer-protection route, and a reversal obtained here does not prejudice the rest of the claim.Claim direct·typically 45 days
3. 03Procon (state and municipal) and the consumidor.gov.br platformconsumidor.gov.br is a free official federal platform on which registered companies undertake to answer consumer complaints within a short published period, and the resolution rate is high. Use it first: it is faster than Procon and the record it creates is admissible later. Procon can fine the supplier; the Juizado Especial Cível decides the money claim without a lawyer. It will take your individual complaint, so file it as one: the merchant, the dates, the amounts, and what you want.Regulator·typically 20 days·official page
4. 04Juizado Especial Cível (small claims)Binding on themBrazilian small claims courts hear consumer claims with no filing fee at first instance and no lawyer required below a threshold measured in minimum wages. They routinely award moral damages for consumer mistreatment, which makes a subscription claim worth bringing.Small claims·typically 180 days