The Minas Gerais State Court of Appeals (TJMG) upheld the conviction of a financial institution to pay compensation for moral damages and for violating LGPD (Brazil's General Data Protection Law), in addition to the double reimbursement of amounts improperly deducted from a consumer's pension benefit. The decision recognized that there was no proof of a valid contract, characterizing a failure in service provision and holding the bank strictly liable.
According to the ruling, the deductions were made without the customer's consent, constituting a violation of the LGPD and justifying autonomous compensation for non-pecuniary damages (due to the violation of personal data). The Court also reaffirmed that, in cases of unauthorized deductions from pension benefits, moral damages are presumed (in re ipsa), requiring no additional evidence of suffering or harm.
The court ordered the reimbursement to be made in double, pursuant to Article 42, sole paragraph, of the Consumer Protection Code, due to the absence of justifiable error by the provider. The bank's request for offsetting amounts was rejected for lack of proof regarding the legality of the financial transaction.
Ex officio, the TJMG amended the criteria for the application of interest and monetary adjustment, setting the adjustment by the IPCA index from the date of the assessment and default interest at the SELIC rate from the date of the harmful event, maintaining the total compensation at R$ 10,000.00 and the conviction for payment of court costs and attorney's fees.
This post was summarized from the original court decision using AI, with human review.
TJMG/AC No. 5201076-46.2021.8.13.0024