“There is a legal obligation” to return extra paid amount in pensions for “error”

A minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security returned, this Saturday, to clarify the error that led to the allocation of pensions above the legal value, arguing that there is not only ground to demand the return of the extra paid amount, as “obligation” to do so.

“What happened there is a parameterization error, so the way in which the new pensions were calculated was made over 15 years ago. And when people got to the age of being able to retire it was now and not back there. So only now did it come to realize that there was this mistake that caused a number of pensioners who retired, who asked for retirement from May – so we are talking about new pensions, not pensions already in payment – to have been assigned a value that is undue, that is, above what, by law, each of those people could receive.”, began by explaining Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho to journalists, on the margins of the 15th Congress of the General Workers Union (UGT), which takes place in Figueira da Foz.

“ Of course, if it is an undue payment, it must be restored, which will be done in one of the various ways that the law provides for choice.”, added, clarifying that the amount can be paid all at once or in a phased way.

“It is a computer error that allowed a payment beyond what the law allows. Therefore, of course no one will certainly want to stay to receive a pension beyond what effectively can legally”, the minister added.

Asked whether there is legal basis to demand it from injured pensioners, the ruler replied that “not only is there legal basis, but there is a legal obligation to do so.”.

“ All payments that are wronged, either by the State or without reason, must be returned. The law requires it to be so ", defended.

What happened?

The Pensions General Box (CGA) will this month notify pensioners who received pensions above the legal value on the amount to be returned, refusing to have done a “reinterpretation of the law”, but rather a “parametrization error” in the calculation.

Beneficiaries of the nearly 3,000 pensions concerned may choose either to make a voluntary payment of a Single Payment Document (SPD) that will be sent to them (having 30 days to do so after receipt of the letter) or to return the amount in question by compensation to the pension(s) of the following month(s), sufficient to do so that they do not liquidate the DUC and do not exceed the monthly deduction 30% of the net amount of the pension to which it is applied.

A third option will be, during the period of voluntary payment, to require the CGA to pay the amount to be recovered in instalments by December 2027 and the value of each monthly instalment may not be less than 5% of the total amount concerned.

This clarification arises after it was reported on Wednesday that the CGA will correct 2,937 pensions awarded between May and August this year, after having detected an error in the calculation that led to them being fixed above the amount provided by the law.

On average, pensioners will receive less than EUR 93.31 per month, with the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, informed that the amounts paid more will have to be restored.