Mass payments of backdated pensions are beginning from EFKA, as 400,000 retirees who turned to the courts will receive their owed amounts within a quarter. The payments concern court decisions for cuts that were imposed on supplementary pensions and bonuses, which were not included in previous backdated payments. The deadline for filing lawsuits was July 2020, while all court cases conclude in favor of retirees. The legal basis relies on the Supreme Special Court’s decision, which recognized the right to return cuts from the 11-month period of June 2015 to May 2016.
Categories of backdated pension beneficiaries
Beyond the 400,000 retirees who claimed backdated supplementary pensions, other categories of retirees are also receiving payments from EFKA.
According to the newspaper “Eleftheros Typos,” public sector retirees, including military retirees and civil pensioners, who filed appeals to the Court of Audit from February 2017 to 2020, are entitled to a refund of the Retirees’ Solidarity Contribution. Approximately 8,000 lawsuits have been filed, with amounts reaching €8,500 for pensions above €1,400. Additionally, 41,000 retirees await recalculation of their pensions or error corrections, with payments that may reach €12,384. Military widows are entitled to 27 months of backdated payments, while a total of 20,000 beneficiaries await review and corrections.
Supplementary pensions and eligible funds
The backdated supplementary pensions concern retirees from 33 supplementary funds, such as IKA ETEAM, ELEM, KEAN, TADKY, TAS, TEAA, NAT and many others. Beneficiaries are exclusively old retirees who retired before January 1, 2015.
Under the Katrougalos law, supplementary pensions awarded from 2015 are calculated differently, incorporating the reductions from the Memoranda. Thus, newer retirees receive lower supplementary pensions from the start.
Examples of backdated amounts per fund
The amounts of backdated payments differ depending on the fund and the amount of the original supplementary pension:
· IKA retiree with original supplementary pension of €610 who now receives €278 is entitled to €1,966
· IKA retiree with original supplementary pension of €190 who now receives €150 is entitled to €437
· Public utility company retiree with original supplementary pension of €915 who now receives €499 is entitled to €4,024
· Public sector retiree with original supplementary pension of €467 who now receives €285 is entitled to €2,004
· NAT retiree with original supplementary pension of €587 who now receives €381 is entitled to €1,679
The dilemma of retirees without lawsuits
Retirees who did not file appeals by July 2020 can no longer claim backdated payments, as their claims have been statute-barred according to law 4734/2020. This creates a serious ethical issue, as for the same unconstitutional pension cuts, only those who turned to the courts will receive backdated payments.
This situation is considered unfair, since other retirees were legislatively prohibited from appealing to Justice. Many argue that backdated payments should be paid to all beneficiaries, regardless of filing lawsuits.
