Back payments with interest, up to €3,500, are coming from autumn for 395,000 pensioners who have won court cases regarding cuts to Christmas bonuses and pension increases, as well as for those who have filed objections due to calculation errors in their pensions related to years of employment, which were issued through the fast track procedure.
Read: Supplementary pensions: Back payments up to €16,800 for 100,000 pensioners
This affects 25,000 pensioners for whom either they themselves or the offices that had undertaken the pension issuance discovered errors concerning insurance periods and permanent residence in Greece. Through the fast-track procedure, 180,000 pensions were issued, as Law 4921/22 provides for a three-month deadline for EFKA to issue a final decision on main old-age pension awards or, accordingly, to reject the application if the conditions are not met.
The main errors
After the expiration of this deadline, the pension award decision is issued based on the insurance history data maintained in the “Atlas” information system, which is accessible through the Unified Digital Portal of Public Administration (EΨΠ-gov.gr) or other computerized systems of e-EFKA, without requiring verification of this data. According to EFKA officials, the main errors identified in pensions issued through the fast track procedure concern:
- The amount of the national pension, as it has been found that insured persons retire at 62 for full pension, having 40 years of insurance, and have been paid the national pension with a 30% reduction, which is provided for those who retire with reduced benefits. By filing objections, decisions are re-examined and owed amounts are paid along with corresponding back payments from the date of the retirement application.
- Years of consecutive insurance, where decisions have been observed to be issued with the insurance time that EFKA sees in the “Atlas” system without calculating any consecutive insurance in another Fund.
- The time of permanent residence in Greece from the 15th year onwards, which must be 40 years for the pensioner to receive the full national pension. Errors are identified in many decisions, for reasons that may be combined with insurance gaps, i.e., periods where insurance time is not recorded due to unemployment, studies, or uninsured employment.
Back payments: Court decisions
From autumn, payments are expected to gradually begin for the 370,000 pensioners who won court decisions for 11-month back payments from cuts to Christmas bonuses in supplementary pensions. The money, although not substantial, comes with 6% annual interest. Pensioners who had appealed are entitled to €800 from cut Christmas bonuses and allowances of one year in main pensions, two supplementary pensions from cut Christmas bonuses and allowances of supplementary pensions, as well as from their reductions for the 11-month period 2015-16.
*Published in Parapolitika
