Portugal's Ombudsman Questions the CGA Over Its Cut to 2,937 Civil Service Pensions After 50 Complaints
The Ombudsman has asked the CGA to explain why it is cutting 2,937 pensions awarded from May to August, after 50 complaints, three of them collective. What the dispute is about, and how affected pensioners can contact the CGA or complain.
Portugal's Provedora de Justiça (Ombudsman), Luísa Neto, has asked the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (CGA, the civil service pension fund) to explain its cut to 2,937 pensions awarded between May and August, after her office received 50 complaints about it. Three of those complaints are collective, each speaking for a wider group of people or for an association, an official source at the Ombudsman's office told Público. "Clarifications have been requested from the CGA, and a reply is awaited," the source said.
We reported the cut when the CGA first disclosed it on 7 October, and the Labour Minister's answer to MPs on Monday. The Ombudsman's inquiry is the new step. According to Público, several associations, parties and unions asked her to intervene, arguing that the CGA is reinterpreting the Estatuto da Aposentação (the civil service retirement statute).
What the dispute is about
A CGA pension is worked out in two parts, Público explains: one for service up to 31 December 2005 and one for service from 1 January 2006. The second part follows Social Security rules, under which the yearly accrual rate is 2 percent for a 20-year career and 2.1 to 2.3 percent for careers of 21 years or more.
In May the first members with 21 years in that second part retired, and the CGA applied a rate above 2 percent. That reading held until August, and people were told their pension amount and retired on the strength of it. The CGA then decided that the second part may only count the years that, added to the first part, make up a 40-year career. At the end of September the 2,937 retirees were told their pensions would fall and that the overpaid amounts would have to be returned, Público reports.
At a parliamentary hearing requested by the Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc), the CGA's chairman, António Valente, defended the fund under Law 60/2005, as amended by Law 52/2007. Service beyond a full 40-year career cannot count "for any purpose", he said, and the CGA's reading "was always the same" since 1 January 2008.
The Labour Minister, Rosário Palma Ramalho, called it an IT "parameterisation lapse" and said the government gave the CGA no instruction. The average net pension involved is 2,475 euros a month and the average amount at stake 93 euros a month, she said, adding that the CGA corrects about 800 pensions a year. Those who feel wronged can sue the State for civil liability.
What affected pensioners can do
- Write to the CGA first. Its contact page asks for your full name, pensioner number and the reference on the CGA's letter. The Linha Azul is 217 807 807, on working days from 8:30 to 16:30. Written contact goes through the online form or by post to Apartado 1194, 1054-001 Lisboa; keep the numbered confirmation email. Desks at Avenida João XXI 63, Lisbon, and Rua da Boavista 353, Porto, open on working days from 9:00 to 12:00; individual cases need an appointment through option 6 of the Linha Azul.
- Complain to the Ombudsman. It is free. The Ombudsman's complaint page asks you to have complained to the body concerned first, and anonymous complaints are not accepted. Our guide to complaining to the Ombudsman walks through it.
- Weigh the courts carefully. The Ombudsman cannot act on questions that are before the courts, so a court case and a complaint on the same point do not run together.
CGA pensions, Christmas bonus included, are paid on 19 November. When Público reported, the Ombudsman was still waiting for the CGA to reply.
