The Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Security and the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy put an end to the queues and waste of time in front of the funds of the provincial Social Security offices, by switching to the online payment of IA contributions from 25 but also in the payment of overdue debts until the end of February.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Deputy Minister of Research, Zeta Aimlianidou said that this project intends to end the approximately 700.000 transactions of € 1 billion that take place every year in the funds of the CA and to channel the 51 officials who staff the funds to the best possible citizen service. As mentioned, from January 25, online payment becomes mandatory for employers and on February 10 for self-employed.
"With the online payment we will be able to utilize officials who are currently in the Social Security Funds to process these 700.000 transactions, so that we can serve the citizen even more efficiently and not have all these delays that really bother the citizens" , said Mrs. Emilianidou.
As he said, by the end of February we hope that we will be able to be paid by employers and self-employed workers and contributions related to overdue debts, so that the funds in social security services are abolished.
According to. Emilianianidou, the abolition of the funds will release 51 employees with an annual cost of € 2,6 million. "But the important thing is that we must enter the world of technology, the citizen must be served. That is our goal, "he added.
He noted that the implementation of this strategy took place after the experience of electronic submission and payment of support benefits to companies and employees, which took place within a month last March, when the lockdown was imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
"As long as there are procedures that are done by hand, it is logical that when there are thousands of applications, they are delayed. That is why I have said that this system is the beginning. With the exemption of staff from collection issues, you realize that they will be able to proceed with the processing of late applications, but also to proceed with the electronic submission of applications, automatic payment and are things that I consider so necessary for the Ministry of Labor because "In conclusion, the goal and purpose of the Ministry of Labor is to serve the citizen," he said.
For his part, Mr. Kokkinos said that the implementation of the system will result in a 55% to 60% reduction in the number of visits to the cash registers in March, since the implementation of the online payment system for overdue debts is pending, which will be completed at the end of February.
He noted that the State Department is working on the online submission of applications and the payment of basic benefits such as the EU, unemployment, sickness and child benefits, which according to him will be done by the end of the first half of this year.
"Our goal is before the end of June until the first half of 2021 to have given immediate benefits, such as child benefit, the EUE which is one of the most difficult, unemployment benefit and sickness benefit," he said.
Answering a question, Mr. Kokkinos stated that the cost of creating these systems ranges from a few tens of thousands of euros to a few hundred, to note that the cost of the absence of these systems is higher.
He noted that according to the plan of the Ministry of Labor, out of the 165 state services that will be digitized, 45 concern the Ministry of Labor.
According to a presentation made, by registering in the system, an employer, a company or a self-employed person will be able to repay the contributions to the TKA by credit or debit card, as well as by direct payment by submitting the IBAN of the company account. By filling in the payroll information, the system automatically calculates the contributions to be paid and the payment is made automatically. The system also accepts payroll statements for large companies.
Finally, Mr. Kokkinos stated that it is no longer necessary to go to the KEP to deposit personal data in order to be given passwords, since this is now done automatically through the website.