BRASILIA, March 31 Reuters Fresh competition in Brazil39;s lucrative meal voucher market must wait, according to people familiar with discussions between the Finance Ministry and central bank, which disagree about how to regulate a new system in time for its scheduled launch in May. A law passed in September under former President Jair Bolsonaro allows workers to move their meal credit between providers and spend it at any participating restaurant. But under new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, government efforts to regulate such a portable and interoperable system have stalled.

Tech companies including the financial services arm of Mercado Libre and meal delivery company iFood expect the rules to let them take a bigger bite of a nearly 150 billion reais 29 billion market dominated by a handful of companies.

More competitive options for tens of millions of Brazilians spending their employerprovided meal vouchers may dent profit margins for Sodexo and Edenred subsidiary Ticket. Sodexo got 26 of its operating revenue from Brazil last year and Edenred got 22, according to investor presentations.

The Finance Ministry says the central bank has jurisdiction to regulate payment systems, but sources said the central bank resisted early proposals to shake up the market and sought to keep its hands off the segment.

The bank39;s staff believes the voucher market presents no systemic risk. The bank has also said transferring voucher credits could actually hurt competition,…