Calarasi Social Assistance Directorate*

MINIMUM INCLUSION INCOME

(According to Law no. 196/2016)

Information regarding the granting of minimum inclusion income (MII)

Legislative framework

– the provisions of Law no. 196/2016, regarding the minimum inclusion income, with subsequent amendments and completions;
– the provisions of Emergency Ordinance no.114/2022, for the amendment and completion of Law no.196/2016 regarding the minimum inclusion income, with subsequent amendments and completions;
– the provisions of Government Decision no. 1154/2022, for the approval of the Methodological Norms for the implementation of the provisions of Law no.196/2016, regarding the minimum inclusion income, with subsequent amendments and completions;
Thus, the minimum inclusion income (MII) is established, which represents financial support granted by the state in order to ensure the minimum standard of living for families and single persons in difficulty, as well as for preventing the risk of poverty among children and encouraging their participation in the education system.
The minimum inclusion income consists of one or more of the following categories of financial aid:
a) inclusion aid;
b) aid for the family with children.

Depending on the needs of the family/single person, the minimum inclusion income is accompanied by other complementary social assistance measures, granted in cash and/or in-kind, as follows:
– incentives – special incentive measures for participation in the labor market, granted in cash or which represent deductions applied to the person's income;
– contributory facilities – insurance in the social health insurance system, without paying the social health insurance contribution;
– other complementary rights – financial transfers and/or in-kind support, in order to facilitate social inclusion and prevent the risk of social exclusion, granted to beneficiaries of minimum inclusion income or other categories in special situations, consisting, as the case may be, of:
(i) payment of mandatory home insurance against earthquakes, landslides, and floods;
(ii) granting of community and emergency aid intended to support the family/single person in overcoming temporary difficulties and preventing or reducing the risk of poverty and social exclusion;
(iii) access to financial support measures for promoting and supporting school attendance, organized according to the law by beneficiaries of minimum inclusion income;
(iv) measures to encourage employment, as well as other measures leading to access for the beneficiaries of minimum inclusion income to a job;
(v) access to available social services, depending on identified needs to overcome difficult situations.

Beneficiaries

MII consists of all amounts related to financial aid provided by art.3 para.(2) of the law, which are established depending on the adjusted monthly income of the family within the following limits:

1. for inclusion aid, up to an adjusted net monthly income of 346 lei inclusive, which is taken into account when determining the cumulative income of the family;

2. for inclusion aid, up to an adjusted net monthly income of 504 lei inclusive, which is taken into account when determining the income of a single person aged at least 65 years;

3. for aid for the family with children, up to an adjusted net monthly income of 880 lei inclusive.

In this regard, new concepts have emerged, such as: equivalence coefficient (1 for the single person and for the legal representative of the family), family size (the sum of the equivalence coefficient corresponding to the family representative = 1 + 0.5 for each family member) and adjusted net monthly income (obtained by dividing the family's total net income from the previous month before the application by the family size), to calculate the granting threshold and the amounts granted as inclusion aid or aid for the family with children.

Granted amounts

The amount granted monthly as inclusion aid will be a maximum of:
– 346 lei, for a single person without income;
– 504 lei, for a single person aged at least 65 years, without income;
– 519 lei, for a family composed of two people (346 lei * 1.5 family size);
– 692 lei, for a family composed of three people (346 lei * 2 family size);
– 865 lei, for a family composed of four people (346 lei * 2.5 family size);
– 1038 lei, for a family composed of five people (346 lei * 3 family size);

The amount granted as aid for the family with children is set according to the level of adjusted net monthly income and the number of children in the family, respectively:
1. For families with adjusted net monthly income up to 346 lei/month, the monthly amount of aid for the family with children is:
– 135 lei, for a family with one child;
– 270 lei, for a family with 2 children;
– 405 lei, for a family with 3 children;
– 539 lei, for a family with 4 or more children.

2. For a single-parent family with adjusted net monthly income up to 346 lei/month, the monthly amount of aid for the family with children is:
– 153 lei, for a family with one child;
– 303 lei, for a family with 2 children;
– 453 lei, for a family with 3 children;
– 604 lei, for a family with 4 or more children.

3. For families with adjusted net monthly income between 348 lei/month and 880 lei inclusive, the monthly amount of aid for the family with children is:
– 108 lei, for a family with one child;
– 215 lei, for a family with 2 children;
– 322 lei, for a family with 3 children;
– 428 lei, for a family with 4 or more children.

4. For single-parent families with adjusted net monthly income between 348 lei/month and 880 lei inclusive, the monthly amount of aid for the family with children is:
– 140 lei, for a family with one child;
– 271 lei, for a family with 2 children;
– 409 lei, for a family with 3 children;
– 541 lei, for a family with 4 or more children.

*If the calculation results in an amount less than 63 lei, then 63 lei is granted.

Notes:
For the calculation of adjusted net monthly income, all amounts received/earned by the single person, or by each member of the family during the month prior to the MII application are considered, except for the following incomes:
a. amounts received as social benefits under Law no.448/2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of disabled persons, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions;
b. state allowance for children granted under Law no. 61/1993 on the state allowance for children, republished, with subsequent amendments;
c. amounts granted as scholarships or other forms of financial support intended exclusively to support the education of preschoolers, pupils, and students, through programs of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research, other public and private institutions, including non-governmental organizations;
d. amounts received from work performed as a day laborer, under Law no.52/2011 regarding the carrying out of occasional activities by day laborers, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions, as well as those obtained as domestic service provider under Law no.111/2022 regarding the regulation of the activity of domestic service provider;
e. amounts received by employable family members as a result of participation in professional training programs organized according to the law, if these do not constitute salary incomes;
f. amounts occasionally received from individuals or legal entities, as well as amounts as emergency aid received from the state or local budget;
g. educational incentive granted according to the provisions of Law no.248/2015 on stimulating participation in preschool education of children from disadvantaged families, republished, in the form of a social voucher to stimulate preschool attendance of children from disadvantaged families;
h. occasional amounts granted from the state or local budget as compensation or financial support for exceptional situations;
i. housing heating aid and energy supplement granted under Law no.226/2021, with subsequent amendments;
j. monthly food allowance granted under Law no.584/2002 regarding measures to prevent the spread of AIDS in Romania and to protect persons infected with HIV or AIDS patients, with subsequent amendments and completions, and the monthly food allowance provided by Law no.302/2018 regarding tuberculosis control measures;
k. amounts received as support, secured from the state budget or non-reimbursable funds, granted under the law or under approved operational programs.

Required documents

The minimum inclusion income (MII) is granted based on a single application made by the applicant accompanied by supporting documents.
– Standard MII application form, which contains information about the applicant and family composition; download application
– Consent for processing of personal data; download agreement
– Self-declaration; download declaration, and as applicable download declaration 2 , download declaration 3

– Payment commitment (for situations where undue rights may be found); download commitment;
– Identity document of the applicant and family members (ID card/identity card, birth certificates);
– Income certificates for all sources of income;
– Death certificate for any deceased member of the family;
– Proof of schooling for children aged between 3 and 16 years;
– Other documents specific to the situation of the applicant/beneficiary:
a. contract regarding the ownership of the property they live in;
b. utility bills;
c. marriage certificate, as appropriate;
d. court decision on entrustment/approval for adoption, according to the law;
e. court decision or, as appropriate, decision of the child protection commission for the placement measure, according to the law;
f. court decision ordering temporary delegation of parental authority to the designated person, according to the provisions of art.104 and art.105 of Law no.272/2004 regarding the protection and promotion of children's rights, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions;
g. decision of the general director of the general social assistance and child protection directorate or, as appropriate, court decision for emergency placement measure, according to the law;
h. court decision establishing guardianship or, as appropriate, the decision of the guardianship authority, according to the law;
i. supporting document attesting to the status of legal representative of the minor lacking full legal exercise capacity, i.e. parent, guardian, curator, or other person designated as legal representative by decision of the general director of the general social assistance and child protection directorate or, as appropriate, by court order;
j. court decision declaring the spouse missing;
k. court decision stating that the spouse is held in pre-trial detention for more than 30 days or is serving a custodial sentence and does not participate in child care;
l. as appropriate, other supporting documents regarding the family composition.
The family composition, the children's affiliation and their legal status regarding the legal representative will be checked/validated by the staff of the Social Protection Service by on-site verification and/or through SNIAS.

Assets leading to exclusion from MII

The establishment of the right to minimum inclusion income is done taking into account the assets of the family or, as appropriate, of the single person, included in the List of goods that lead to the exclusion from granting the minimum inclusion income. The list can be consulted below.

LIST of goods that lead to the exclusion from granting minimum inclusion income
A. Real estate assets
Buildings, other living spaces outside the dwelling house, as well as land located in the built-up area larger than 1,200 sqm in urban areas and 2,500 sqm in rural areas, outside the fenced area of the house and the related yard.

1. Movable goods
1. More than one vehicle older than 10 years, allowed to circulate on public roads;
2. Vehicle allowed to circulate on public roads less than 10 years old, except for those used and/or adapted for the transport of disabled persons;
3. Speedboats, motorboats, yachts, or other types of boats, except for those necessary for transport in case of persons living in the "Danube Delta" Biosphere Reserve area;

NOTE:
If one or more goods owned by the single person/family benefitting from minimum inclusion income are rented/leased/concessioned, this good will be considered for the person/family who has it in lease/rent/concession, and for the rightful owner, the value obtained as a result of transferring the right of use will be considered.
The person or family who, besides the home, owns a share in another building/living space/real estate may benefit from minimum inclusion income regardless of the share size, if this possession cannot be capitalized upon.

1. Bank deposits
At least one of the family members holds, as account holder, one or more bank accounts/deposits, whose total amount exceeds 3 times the value of the average gross salary provided by the Social Insurance Law. (Currently the value is 6095*3=18285 lei)

Obligations of the holder

The holder of the minimum inclusion income is obliged to notify the city hall in whose administrative area he has his domicile or residence of any change regarding domicile, income, and number of family members, within a maximum of 10 days from the date the change occurred.
Single persons and families benefitting from minimum inclusion income are obliged to file at the city hall, every 6 months, a self-declaration regarding changes occurred, accompanied by supporting documents, as applicable.

People able to work who do not earn income under an individual work contract, service report, or other legal form of employment and nor from independent or agricultural activities, as defined by Law no.227/2015, with subsequent amendments and completions, are obliged to present themselves, whenever requested, to the territorial workforce agency in whose records they are registered as job seekers, in order to be employed or to participate in employment and professional training services.

In the case of single persons and families benefitting from minimum inclusion income consisting exclusively of aid for the family with children, the above obligation does not apply.

In the case of families benefiting from minimum inclusion income that includes the inclusion aid component, one of the adult employable persons from that family is obliged to perform monthly, at the request of the mayor, activities or works of local interest, complying with the normal working time and work safety and health rules.

Families for whom the amount of inclusion aid is up to 63 lei are exempted. For these, working hours are established quarterly and performed in any of the months of the quarter.

The heating aid for housing and the energy supplement are granted to fully or partially cover the expenses for heating the home during the cold season and supporting cooking facilities and ensuring hot water in the home, ensuring continuity of electrical supply to equipment on which people's lives depend for health reasons, and the use of communication means requiring energy use.

The heating aid for housing is granted to vulnerable consumers of centralized thermal energy, electricity, natural gas, solid and/or petroleum fuels. It is granted only for one heating system, which is the main one used.

The energy supplement can be requested together with the heating aid for the home or separately. It is granted cumulatively depending on the energy supply sources used.

Beneficiaries: families and single people who meet the following conditions:

- actually live at the address for which they request this aid, are registered in the housing document, and are counted in determining the housing maintenance expenses;

- have incomes of up to 1386 lei/family member in the case of the family, or 2053 lei in the case of a single person;

- do not own assets included in the List of assets leading to exclusion from the granting of social aid;

- have the status of aid holder, a status which is found in the following situations:

· owner of the home;

· legal successor of the owner of the home;

· person who has transferred the home under a sale-purchase contract with maintenance clauses or with right of habitation;

· tenant under a lease, loan, or concession contract;

· another adult family member empowered by the home owner or by the lease contract holder;

· legal representative of the single person who does not have legal capacity (persons placed under interdiction, etc.)

The heating aid for the home is granted based on an application-statement on one's own responsibility, accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition, the incomes realized in the month prior to submitting the application by its members, and the assets owned, including in other administrative-territorial units.

In determining the net monthly income of the family or, where applicable, of the single person, all incomes realized by its members in the month prior to submitting the application are considered, including those deriving from state social insurance rights, unemployment insurance, allowances, allocations, and permanent aid, regardless of the budget from which they are supported, legal maintenance obligations and other legal claims, except for: family support allowance, state allowance for children, complementary personal budget and social benefits for persons with disabilities, school scholarships, educational incentive, financial supportgranted to students within the National Social Protection Programme "Bani de liceu", income obtained from occasional activities performed by day laborers, occasional sums granted from the state or local budgets as compensation or financial support for exceptional situations.

Applications-statements are submitted only once at the beginning of the season. An applicant is legally entitled to only one heating aid, depending on the type of heating of the dwelling (thermal energy, natural gas, electricity, solid or petroleum fuels).

If families and single persons fulfill the granting conditions for the heating aid for their home during the cold season, the right shall be determined starting with the month of submitting the application, if this is submitted by the 20th of the month.

Single persons and families who own assets included in the list leading to exclusion from the heating aid for housing, provided in Annex no.4 to HG 559/2017, DO NOT benefit from the heating aid for housing and energy supplement.