A large number of citizens will receive a double Christmas bonus with a punctuality test in December (2.3 million citizens), as well as a heating allowance (1.3 million citizens). These two benefits are expected to be in beneficiary accounts before Christmas and will provide a breath of liquidity for vulnerable households during an extremely difficult time. The total cost of the two measures (heating allowance and validation) to the state budget is about 750 million euros.

Approximately 1.3 million households are beneficiaries under existing heating allowance programs. Those who received it last year will see the money in their accounts around December 10, and new recipients will receive payments before the end of the year.

At the same time, 2.3 million citizens will receive one-time financial assistance in the amount of 250 euros.

The beneficiaries are:

• 1 million pensioners, up from 634,000 in April, with a monthly income of up to €800, up from €600 in April.

• 35,000 uninsured OPECA pensioners.

• 172,000 recipients of disability benefits.

In doing so, it will be provided:

• 225,000 minimum guaranteed income recipients, double payment in December and

• 800,000 recipients of OPECA child benefits will receive an additional one and a half months of payments.

The total cost of the above is 496 million euros.

Heating advantage

Next week, the Joint Ministerial Decision (CMD) will finally be published, according to which the terms and conditions for the provision of the heating subsidy will be determined.

The total amount to be provided is 500 million euros, together with a subsidy of 25 cents per liter at the filling station, a measure that will initially apply until the end of the year, without exception, if conditions require it to be extended. .

Approximately 1.3 million households are beneficiaries of the allowance this year, while last year there were slightly less than 900 thousand, and this is due to the fact that assets have increased, and the base for the asset criterion will also increase due to an increase in objective values. The maximum amount a household can receive is 800 euros, compared to 750 euros last year, and the lowest is 100 euros, the same as last year.

Let’s see the criteria that will apply this year:

1. The income limit is 16,000 euros per person.

2. Up to EUR 24,000 per married person, increased by EUR 3,000 for each protected child.

3. Property criteria, the possibility of increasing the objective value to 200,000 euros for unmarried people, while the value of real estate for married people will remain at the level of 300,000 euros.

However, in the event that someone wants to receive twice the amount, then the criterion is 14,000 euros for unmarried people and 20,000 euros for married people.

The first installment, which will concern the old beneficiaries, will be provided around December 10 and after submitting the relevant application to myheating until the end of November.

This will be followed by a payout to new beneficiaries who apply before December 15th and the payout will be made at the end of the same month.

Source: RES-IPE