The government has intervened in the SUBE Social Fare and changed the rules of the game. As of this Wednesday, July 1, the 55% discount received by millions of public transport users is no longer calculated on the actual fare value, but on a reference fare frozen as of June 30, 2026.
The measure, published in the Official Gazette, maintains the benefit at the same percentage but modifies the calculation of the contribution made by the national government. Until now, whenever a province or municipality raised the fare, the national subsidy was automatically adjusted to maintain the 55% discount. With the new resolution, that automatic adjustment is over: the subsidy is calculated on a fixed fare, and if provinces want beneficiaries to continue paying less, they will have to cover the difference out of their own pockets.
The decision responds to the decoupling policy promoted by the Ministry of Economy. Since the national administration transferred to the provinces the power to set bus fares, they considered that it is not appropriate for the National Treasury to automatically assume the higher cost derived from those increases. In plain language: if a province decides to raise the fare, the Nation continues to contribute the same subsidy as always, and the rest is paid by the province.
The scheme also applies to railway services, although with less impact because urban trains remain under national jurisdiction. The regulation replaces a set of resolutions in effect since 2012 and establishes that the reference fare will remain frozen until the Secretary of Transport decides to update it through an administrative decision.
The government justifies the measure as an attempt to contain public spending and prevent provincial fare decisions from generating an automatic increase in Treasury expenditures. However, the concrete effect is that the subsidy loses real value over time if it is not updated, and provinces are left with the obligation to cover the gap if they want to maintain the benefit for their residents.
The SUBE Social Fare still covers retirees and pensioners, holders of the Universal Child Allowance (AUH), beneficiaries of non-contributory pensions, social monotributistas, domestic workers, Malvinas War veterans, people with unemployment insurance, and other groups included in the program. For them, the 55% discount remains, but now it depends on whether the provinces are willing to put up the money to sustain it in the face of future increases.
The resolution was published in the Official Gazette and is already generating controversy: while the government celebrates fiscal order, provinces warn that the adjustment falls on the most vulnerable users. Time will tell whether the freezing of the reference fare is a relief for the Treasury or a time bomb for the pockets of those who have the least.
para mi los zurdos de siempre choreando el subsidio ahora los provincianos q bancan el curro se tienen q calentar tipico desresponsabilizarse viva la libertad carajo firmado el tano de la 9
Para mí esto es un choreo a mano armada de estos liberales de mierda, nos dejan a pata mientras ellos se pasean en helicóptero. La guita sobra para los bancos pero para el boleto no hay un sope. ¡Qué se vayan todos a la mierda, che!