By Angelos Anastasiou
A WEEK after going live, the government’s Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) welfare scheme has already presented serious teething problems, with applications submitted from people whose monthly income indicates ineligibility, leaving many citizens frustrated with seemingly endless red tape.
Application forms have been delivered to 54 post offices around Cyprus for people to collect and fill out, with post office staff trained on the specifics of the scheme, and even an information hotline has been set up by the Labour ministry to guide people through completing the applications correctly.
But the post office has been inundated with walk-in and telephone queries and the hotline has been reported to have jammed repeatedly due to system overload.
“We receive about 30 applications daily, some from clearly non-eligible applicants,” one post office employee told the Cyprus Mail. “Even a man with €1.800 in monthly income asked us if he is eligible.”
But the man was not being crass. There is no hard line on eligibility in terms of income levels – whether one is entitled to the GMI allowance, and how much, depends on a variety of factors, including whether or not he has a mortgage or pays rent, the number and age of dependents, the individual’s net worth, and even the total area of his or her home. Thus, two people receiving identical monthly wages may find their respective applications treated quite differently.
In theory, anyone could be eligible provided he or she does not have over €5,000 in cash or own property worth more than €100,000 – excluding primary residences. That is why the government’s initial expectation of approximately 100,000 applications is likely to prove a wild underestimate. A total 180,000 individual application forms have been printed and delivered to post offices, and some 80,000 have already been submitted. That is also why Labour minister Zeta Emilianidou was forced on Tuesday to publicly urge people to make sure they are eligible before applying – the only real preconditions to eligibility being permanent residence in Cyprus over the last five years and age over 28.
But despite encouraging almost everyone permanently living in Cyprus to apply, the government has not made it easy.
Filling out a standard Cypriot-citizen 13-page application, not counting the various required certificates and letters of confirmation, is no simple task. As a result, along with applications, post offices have been inundated with expressions of frustration at the sheer volume of paperwork that citizens need to gather before the application can even be submitted.
“We receive complaints every day because many applicants submit applications missing some certificate or other – they have to go out, get it and come back here again,” the post office employee said.
The first of such required paperwork is the confirmation of one’s permanent residence by local authorities. Another relates to proof and justification of any change in income levels “over the last six months.” Mortgagees must provide a copy of their mortgage agreement and a current interest statement, and those who rent a home must submit a copy of the tenancy agreement. One’s personal banking information must be accompanied by confirmation of its accuracy by the bank itself. Copies of identity cards, bank account statements for all involved (applicant and dependents) since January 1, 2014, and employer confirmation of monthly salary, are only some of the items on the list. Self-employed applicants are required to submit additional documentation, and non-Cypriot applicants yet more.
But despite initial hiccups, the public seems undeterred by the murky eligibility criteria and the required bureaucracy, which may well be testament to the government’s successful effort to convince the public that the scheme may be well worth the trouble. What remains unanswered is whether the public’s expectations will be met once applications are processed and the first cheques reach mailboxes – but not for long.
