Ombudsman Calls for Removal of Child Benefit Certificates

Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva sent a recommendation to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov, calling for the removal of the requirement for citizens receiving monthly child benefits to provide an annual income certificate from their employer. This was announced by the ombudsman's press center, shedding light on the growing dissatisfaction among the public.

There has been an increase in complaints received by the public defender's institution. Citizens express their bewilderment regarding the need to provide documents and fill out new declarations annually. Their argument is that the relevant institutions, such as the National Revenue Agency (NRA) and the National Social Security Institute (NSSI), already possess all the necessary information and should be able to conduct official checks. This is what the press center points out.

Currently, after submitting the declaration, employees from the "Social Assistance" directorate, in any case, perform an official check of the declared data. According to Delcheva, this makes the annual requirement for a certificate unnecessary and ineffective. She emphasizes that the measure creates unnecessary administrative difficulties, especially for parents who are no longer employed or have strained relationships with a previous employer.

The ombudsman's proposal is related to the ongoing public discussion of the draft law amending and supplementing the Child Family Benefits Act. Delcheva sees this as an opportunity for a subsequent change in the regulations for the implementation of the law, thus eliminating the requirement to submit a certificate of the family's gross monthly income for the last 12 months.

At the same time, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy published at the beginning of the month changes to the law for public discussion. These provide that parents of children in first, second, third, fourth, and eighth grades will not be obliged to return the received benefits if their children have up to five unexcused absences within a month. This was announced by the department's press center.