In accounts of the beneficiaries that move exclusively with the use special prepaid card will be paid DYPA and OPECA allowances.
This is what it says bill to reform the insurance system and each beneficiary is assigned a unique account.
The prepaid card is issued by payment service providers of paragraph d) of article 62 of Law 4446/2016 (Α΄240) that operate in Greece and with which the beneficiaries maintain an active payment account.
Payment service providers issue the prepaid card and provide the corresponding service of its operation to the beneficiaries free of charge.
Half (1/2) of the amount paid any allowance, aid, provision or assistance is spent exclusively through its use prepaid card of the beneficiary for purchases of products or services, (including online purchases), or payments without burdening the beneficiary with bank transaction transaction costs.
Transactions for the purchase of goods or services made using the prepaid card will be considered for participation of beneficiaries in a special program of public draws (lotteries), through which cash or other prizes are awarded to those drawn.
From the entry into force of the bill and until September 30, 2024, the time for starting the payment of every allowance, aid and provision to accounts, which are processed exclusively through a special prepaid card, is defined by a joint decision of the Ministers of Labor and Social Security and Social Cohesion and Family. From September 30, 2024, all benefits are paid through the prepaid card.
In detail, article 149 of the bill
1. The allowances, aids, supports and all kinds of benefits of the Public Employment Service (P.E.S.A.) and the Organization of Welfare Benefits and Social Solidarity (O.P.E.K.A.), except those of par. 4 , are paid to the beneficiary’s accounts that are processed exclusively using a special prepaid card (“prepaid card”). Each beneficiary is assigned a unique account hereof.
2. The prepaid card is issued by payment service providers of paragraph d) of article 62 of Law 4446/2016 (Α΄240) that operate in Greece and with which the beneficiaries maintain an active payment account. Payment service providers issue the prepaid card and provide the corresponding service of its operation to the beneficiaries free of charge.
3. Half (1/2) of the paid amount of each allowance, aid, provision or support is spent exclusively through the use of the beneficiary’s prepaid card for purchases of products or services, (including online purchases), or payments without burdening the beneficiary with costs transaction costs of a bank transaction. The card user is entitled to take an amount in cash from his account that does not exceed half (1/2) of the benefits he has received. The use of the prepaid card is allowed for transactions carried out within the European Union.
4. Allowances, aids and benefits that are not paid to accounts of par. 1 through the prepaid card are the following: a) For allowances, aids and benefits granted by OPEKA: aa) The allowance of social solidarity of uninsured overages of article 93 of law 4387/2016 (A’ 85), ab) disability allowances, ag) expatriate refugee allowance of article 5 of n.d. 57/1973 (A’ 149), ad) the housing allowance of article 3 of law 4472/2017 (A’ 74), ae) the income support for families in mountainous and disadvantaged areas of par. 2 of article 27 of law 3016 /2002 (Α΄30), ast) the funeral expenses in case of death of an uninsured elderly person of the law 1296/1982 (A΄ 128), az) the housing assistance allowance for uninsured elderly persons of the subpara. aa) of par. f) of par. 1 of article 4 of Law 4520/2018 (A΄ 30), ai) the monthly financial aid in the form of an allowance to the protected children of those who died from the fires that affected areas of the Attica Region on 23 and 24 July 2018 of article 2 of the Legislative Content Act of 26.7.2018 (A’ 138), ratified by article 3 of Law 4576/2018 (A’ 196), a) the monthly financial aid in the form allowance to each minor child of those who died during and because of the flood phenomena that hit Crete in the month of February 2019 of article 244 of Law 4610/2019 (A’ 70), j) the monthly financial aid of par. 3 of Article 18 of Law 2768/1999 (Α΄273), as amended by Article 73 of Law 5043/2023 (Α΄91), to the protected children and Page 138 of 165 siblings of those who died during and because of the fires that hit the area of Varymombis of the Municipality of Acharna on August 3, 2021 and due to the earthquake of October 30, 2020 in Samos. b) For allowances, aids and benefits granted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs: ba) The allowance due to the insolvency of the employer of article 16 of Law 1836/1989 (A’ 79), bb) The availability allowance of the third paragraph of par 5 of article 27 of the n.d. 2961/1954 (A’ 197) bj) extraordinary financial aid paid by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
5. Persons with a visual disability of more than eighty percent (80%) who have been certified by the Disability Certification Center of the Electronic National Social Security Agency are exempted from payment by prepaid card.
6. Transactions for the purchase of goods or services carried out using the prepaid card are taken into account for the participation of the beneficiaries of par. 1 in a special public lottery program (Lotteries), through which monetary or other prizes are awarded to the winners. The monetary prizes are non-confiscatable in the hands of the State or third parties, in derogation of any general or special provision, they are not subject to any withholding, fee or levy, they are not bound and are not set off against confirmed debts to the Tax Administration and the State in general, the municipalities , regions, insurance funds or payment service providers. The total amount of money distributed for the public lotteries that will be conducted from the entry into force of this, until December 31, 2025, does not exceed the amount of eight million five hundred thousand (8,500,000) euros. This amount is financed by resources of the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
7. The payment service providers notify the beneficiaries of par. 1 and the Ministries of National Economy and Finance, Labor and Social Security and Social Cohesion and Family of the programs with which they reward prepaid card users for the transactions of purchasing products and services that the the latter carry out using it.
8. From the entry into force of this and until September 30, 2024, the start time of payment of each allowance, aid and provision to accounts, which are processed exclusively through a special pre-paid card, is defined by a joint decision of the Ministers of Labor and Social Security and Social Cohesion and Family. From September 30, 2024, all the benefits of par. 1, subject to par. 4, are paid through the prepaid card.
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