A new scheme allowing thousands of debtors to settle overdue social insurance contributions will come into force within days, following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
The scheme, approved by parliament last month, will also suspend criminal prosecutions against participating debtors for the duration of their enrolment.
The terms, conditions and eligibility criteria — which mirror those of two previous schemes — will be published in the gazette notification and subsequently posted on the Social Insurance Services website. Applicants will have four months to submit their applications.
How applications will be processed
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are submitted, rather than waiting for the four-month window to close, an official source told Phileleftheros. The processing system is already operational, having been used for the previous schemes.
Once an application is reviewed, the Director of the Social Insurance Fund will notify the applicant of the decision and provide a detailed breakdown of outstanding amounts per fund, the number of monthly instalments and the amount of each instalment. Applicants then have 15 days from receipt of the decision to submit a declaration of acceptance.
Instalment structure and surcharge relief
The scheme allows debts to be repaid over a maximum of 54 monthly instalments, with surcharges written off. Debtors who settle in full in a single payment are fully exempt from the additional surcharge.
Those who repay within 24 instalments will be relieved of 30/54 of the total surcharge amount. Paying more than the required instalment in any given month will be credited against future instalments or accelerate full repayment, resulting in a greater surcharge reduction.
Minimum monthly instalments are set according to the total debt:
| Total debt | Minimum monthly instalment |
|---|---|
| Up to €500 | €25 |
| €501 – €1,000 | €50 |
| €1,001 and above | €75 |
The first instalment may be paid at the same time as the acceptance declaration is submitted, or by the last day of that month at the latest. All subsequent instalments are due by the last day of each corresponding month.
Cancellation conditions
The arrangement will be cancelled if a debtor fails to pay current contributions on time, or falls behind on instalment payments by more than three months. A single missed instalment may, however, be rolled into the following month’s payment or distributed equally across the remaining instalments.
Criminal prosecutions suspended
No criminal proceedings will be initiated against debtors while they remain enrolled in the scheme, and any existing prosecutions will be suspended for the same period. Where a court order for the enforcement of a warrant is pending, that order will also be suspended for the duration of enrolment.
Debtors providing paid services to the state will have 30% of their remuneration offset against their debt, with the remaining 70% paid to them directly.
Who can apply
In addition to new applicants, the 395 debtors currently enrolled in the 2021 scheme — which expires in September — are eligible to join the new arrangement. For those who transfer, the additional surcharge already imposed will not increase for any periods of delay.
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