Market Pass in mid-February

The platform for the granting of support to households in grocery stores, the so-called Market Pass, will be ready by mid-February, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told Skai Radio on Monday.

The implementation of the measure will start in February, with the first payment to be made to the beneficiaries who meet the criteria by end of the month. The measure will remain in effect until July. The subsidy equals 10% of the amount of goods purchased at supermarkets and other businesses active in the retail food trade (bakeries, minimarkets, fruit shops, butchers, fishmongers, dairy shops etc).

The monthly limit of purchases per household on which it receives the 10% aid amounts to 220 euros for a single-member household, increasing by €100 for each additional member of the household and up to €1,000 of purchases. Therefore a couple without children will have up to €320 of monthly purchases covered with €32 and a single-parent family with two dependent children and €420 of monthly purchases will get €42.

Beneficiaries are households where the annual total family income is up to €16,000 for single-member households and €24,000 for married couples or parties to a cohabitation agreement, which is increased by €5,000 for each child, other dependent member and guest member of the household, according to form E1 of the tax statement. Therefore, if the person liable to submit a tax return is married with two dependent children and also has a third older child who is not considered a dependent but hosts him, then the members of the household are taken as five and both the income limits and the amount of aid are expanded accordingly.

The aid is received upon application on the relevant electronic platform at gov.gr, which will be available after mid-February 2023. It will be uploaded as a digital app on smartphones, or credited to bank accounts, albeit with a 20% reduction. This is exactly the same process as that used earlier this year for the Fuel Pass.