Debtors’ deposits to be probed
The retirement process for debtors with arrears of 20,000 to 30,000 euros is stuck in the probing of deposits, as based on estimates, it will take around two months before the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) and the banks are in a position to check the average bank deposits of the year, before the submission of the retirement application.
That is because the law states that only if the debtor has deposits below €12,000 will he or she be able to receive a pension, with EFKA withholding a part of that amount to cover debts.
According to sources, EFKA and banks are in contact to define how to lift bank secrecy and check deposits, with the prevailing scenario being that the average of deposits in the year before the application is submitted will be checked: If it is below €12,000, then the process begins. Otherwise, the pension application will be rejected and in order for the debtor to receive a pension they will have to pay the additional amount up to €20,000 so the balance can be settled in 60 installments, which will be withheld from the pension. Care must be taken when eligible pensioners are co-beneficiaries of a bank account, as in this case deposits greater than €12,000 will automatically exclude them from the process.
The joint ministerial decision to determine the procedure is expected to be signed soon by the co-competent ministries of Labor and Finance. It will clear out all the safeguards required in an effort to ensure that only those who truly cannot otherwise pay their debts receive a pension.
It will take at least two months, as Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security Panos Tsakloglou said, in order to start the control by the banks. Therefore, the decision will first be signed, providing for all possible inspection cases, so that banks can then proceed with the required interventions.
Last December’s regulation stipulates that for freelancers with debts to EFKA, the debt limit of €20,000 climbed to €30,000. Likewise for farmers in a similar position, the debt limit was increased from €6,000 to €10,000.
