The Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZPIZ) explained to a petitioner, a pensioner with a permanent residence in Slovenia, that he is not eligible for a solidarity allowance to eliminate the consequences of energy poverty under the Act Determining Emergency Measures to Mitigate the Consequences of the Impact of High Energy Commodity Prices because he resides abroad. After the Ombudsman's intervention, the ZPIZ found that the explanation was incorrect. The solidarity allowance was then paid to the petitioner.
* * *
The Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (Ombudsman) was petitioned by a pensioner who resided abroad and received two different explanations from the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute of Slovenia (ZPIZ) regarding his eligibility for a solidarity allowance to eliminate the consequences of energy poverty under the Act Determining Emergency Measures to Mitigate the Consequences of the Impact of High Energy Commodity Prices (ZUOPVCE). First, the ZPIZ explained to him that he was eligible for this solidarity allowance, and after re-examining the case, it then informed him that it had found that he was not eligible for it, even though he has a permanent residence registered in the Central Population Register, because his actual permanent residence and centre of his life interests is abroad.
On the basis of the first indent of the second paragraph of Article 2 of the ZUOPVCE in relation to Article 67 of the Act on Additional Measures to Stop the Spreading and Mitigate, Control, Recover and Eliminate the Consequences of COVID-19 (ZDUPŠOP), the beneficiaries of the solidarity allowance to eliminate the consequences of energy poverty are persons with permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Slovenia who are beneficiaries of pensions paid by the ZPIZ whose income for the month of December 2021 (together with a pension paid by a foreign pension and disability insurance provider in January 2021) amounted to EUR 1,000 or less.
The Ombudsman turned to the ZPIZ because the law does not specify that, in addition to permanent or temporary residence, the condition of actually residing in the Republic of Slovenia must also be met. It seemed that with its interpretation, the ZPIZ narrows the circle of beneficiaries of the solidarity allowance to eliminate the consequences of energy poverty that is stipulated by law.
The ZPIZ reviewed the petitioner's case again and announced that the first explanation was correct and that the petitioner is eligible for the solidarity allowance, since in addition to the amount of the pension, information on permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Slovenia in December 2021 was also taken into account when the solidarity allowance was being paid out, with the ZPIZ taking into account that the insured persons had a registered permanent or temporary residence in the Republic of Slovenia for at least one day in December 2021.
The ZPIZ then paid out the solidarity allowance to the petitioner, and the Ombudsman proposed to the ZPIZ that, if there is a possibility that the same error has been made in other similar cases, these cases should be checked, and any possible errors eliminated. 9.15-2/2022
