Renda Básica de Cidadania (RBC) — Maricá
Renda Básica de Cidadania (RBC) is a municipal guaranteed-income program run by the City of Maricá, Brazil, funded largely by oil royalties. Launched in its original form in 2013 and redesigned as an individual (not household) monthly cash benefit in 2019, it is widely cited as the largest ongoing basic-income program in Latin America. Eligible low-income residents receive a monthly payment in mumbuca, a local digital currency pegged 1:1 to the Brazilian real and spendable only within Maricá via a card or app. As of 2026 the program pays R$230/month per eligible individual to more than 70,000 residents.
Municipal guaranteed income, oil royalties funded, local/social currency (Mumbuca), largest basic income program in Latin America, solidarity economy
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- City of Maricá — Secretaria de Economia Solidária e Empreendedorismo Social (Ecosol), in partnership with Banco Mumbuca
- City
- Maricá
- State / Province
- Rio de Janeiro
- Country
- Brazil
Contact
- Website
- https://www.marica.rj.gov.br
- Phone
- +55 21 2637-2053
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Application status
- Rolling
- Number of recipients
- 70,000
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Ongoing / unconditional
- Yes
- Distribution Type
- Cartão Mumbuca (prepaid debit-style card) and Banco Mumbuca mobile app, both loaded with mumbuca digital currency
- Benefit details
Eligible residents receive R$230 per person per month, paid in mumbuca, a municipal digital currency with 1:1 parity to the Brazilian real that can only be spent with merchants in Maricá. Merchants accepting mumbuca pay a 2% fee that funds a zero-interest microcredit program run by Banco Mumbuca. Payments are made monthly, with a 13th 'Christmas bonus' payment historically added in December. During the COVID-19 emergency (April 2020–December 2021) the transfer was temporarily raised to R$300/month; it was permanently reset to R$200 in May 2022 and raised again to R$230 in December 2023, where it remains as of mid-2026.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Applicants must reside in Maricá, be registered (and keep registration updated) in Cadastro Único, Brazil's federal social-registry database, and belong to a household with monthly income up to three times Brazil's minimum wage. A minimum residency of three years in Maricá has historically been required. Registration and periodic recadastramento (re-registration) occur at local CRAS offices or through the Secretaria de Economia Solidária e Empreendedorismo Social. Indigenous residents are eligible for a separate, larger benefit (300 mumbucas/month) under a related program.
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $11,533
Citizenship
- Minimum Years In Jurisdiction
- 3 years
Geography
- Countries covered
- Brazil
- Cities covered
- Maricá
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
- Minimum Years A Resident of Target Geography
- 3 years
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Cadastro Único (federal unified social-registry) enrollment and active status required
- Research / participation requirements
Enrollment in the cash benefit itself does not require research participation. Separately, the Jain Family Institute (JFI, New York) partnered with Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) to conduct an independent longitudinal mixed-methods impact evaluation of the RBC program (household surveys 2021–2022, qualitative interviews with beneficiaries, non-beneficiaries, and local stakeholders, and media monitoring); participation in that external academic study was voluntary and separate from program eligibility.
Application Process
- How to apply
Households register or update their record in Cadastro Único at a local CRAS (Centro de Referência de Assistência Social) office; eligibility for RBC is then assessed against income and residency criteria. Municipal teams from Ecosol, the Secretaria de Juventude e Participação Popular, and Banco Mumbuca also conduct door-to-door recadastramento (re-registration) visits, and residents can regularize pending information in person at the Secretaria de Economia Solidária e Empreendedorismo Social (Rua Abreu Rangel, 138, Centro de Maricá) or check enrollment status via the official RBC website.
- Selection process
Households already listed in Cadastro Único whose reported family income falls at or below three times the national minimum wage and who meet the Maricá residency requirement are analyzed and enrolled by the Secretaria de Economia Solidária; the program has periodically expanded via large enrollment drives (e.g., ~10,000 new beneficiaries added in Nov–Dec 2019; expansion to ~93,000 beneficiaries in October 2023).
