EFKA reaching remote parts
Online consultations with trained fund employees by appointment offered to islanders
Greek workers and pensioners will be able to carry speak with representatives of the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) by video call on their computer or smartphone, thanks to the myEFKAlive initiative.
The new online service was launched on Wednesday on a trial basis, allowing insured individuals to performa a series of transactions or obtain documents and certificates from EFKA without having to visit the social security fund’s offices. The service is expected to be of particular use to people living in remote parts of the country, such as on islands or in mountainous regions, as well as to people with mobility problems and those who are not familiar with the standard online services offered by e-EFKA.
For the time being, myEFKAlive will serve the inhabitants of the Dodecanese and Cyclades islands, with the exception of Kos as its EFKA branches are in the process of merging. It is especially important for some remote or very small islands where there are no EFKA branches, so insured individuals will now be able to get service without having to travel to a different island.
EFKA’s objective is to incorporate all of the country’s islands on the platform, along with some remoter parts of mainland Greece, so that within 2022 the entire country is covered.
Citizens will need to access the EFKA website (www.efka.gov.gr) or the government portal (www.gov.gr). Using their Taxisnet usernames and password they can enter and book an appointment at a date and time of their convenience, using their home or office computers or even their smartphones. They will then be connected to an EFKA employee through a conference call and apply for certificates or allowances, or even be informed about their own pension or social security issues.
Presenting the new service on Wednesday were the ministers of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis and Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, along with the management of EFKA. During the presentations they spoke live to six trained employees on Rhodes, Tinos, Syros, Kalymnos, Naxos and Karpathos, before two citizens from Kastellorizo and Iraklia used the service in real time.
