Free question Government on error in calculating pensions

Na question addressed to the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, the Livre bench says it has received “several reports” that the General Pensions Fund (CGA) “is notifying, for prior hearing, recently retired public administration workers, among whom are several teachers, with a view to reducing the amount of pension that was defined to them”.

Several media outlets have reported that the CGA will correct 2,937 pensions allocated between May and August this year, after having detected an error in the calculation that led to them being fixed above the amount laid down in the law.

On average, pensioners will receive less than 93.31 euros gross per month, but the Livre bench says it has received some reports of higher values.

In this context, the Free wants to know “what is the legal basis in concrete that allows the CGA to change the amount of a pension formally communicated to the person concerned as a ‘final pension’ in final resolution” and whether the ‘legitimate lapse invoked by the CGA’ falls within the legally foreseen situations for the amendment or annulment of a final resolution.

Members question on what date the alleged lapse was detected, “how many pensions were fixed with the wrong calculation criterion”, “what is the exact time it was applied and how many notifications for prior hearings have already been sent” and the “average amount of reductions proposed”.

Among the various questions, the Free wants to know whether the replacement of sums paid by the CGA resulting from this lapse will be required, and whether there is the possibility of compensation for pensioners “who, in good faith, have suffered damage as a result of the reduced pension value”.

Parliament today approved requests from the CFP and BE to listen to the Minister of Labour and the President of the General Pensions Fund (CGA) on this issue.

Today, in Aveiro, the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security confirmed the existence of an error of the CGA in the calculation of almost 3,000 pensions, saying that the extra paid amounts will have to be returned.

“It is a technical deficiency in the clearance of the pension, which will naturally be corrected. The Presentations Box has already issued information about this and will therefore be corrected ", said Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho.

Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho also said that people who received the pension above what they were entitled to, by application of the legal regime, will have to return the values that received the most.

“ In fact, if an undue payment is found, legal terms will have to be restored, but legal solutions will be combined with the affected ones themselves. In fact, people have already received a letter on this matter, we are told, and so there are several ways to replace it”, he concluded.