The heating aid for housing and the energy supplement are part of the category of social benefits granted by the Oradea Social Assistance Directorate.

Content and Role of Documents

Content of the documents – personal data, data regarding the incomes obtained by applicants and information regarding the assets owned;

Role of the documents – they form the basis for establishing or denying the right to heating aid/energy supplement, for the modification or termination of these benefits; the rights are established by issuing the mayor's order.

Document Flow

- Documents underlying the granting of aid: Applications and self-declarations accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and the income obtained by its members are registered by the applicants at the DAS Oradea headquarters - Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city neighborhoods; data is processed in an IT program; at the end of the granting period (November – October) an archive is created;

- Documents for institutional use: Counselor - Head of Service - Executive Director - Mayor of Oradea Municipality - Thermal/gas/electricity supplier – AJPIS Bihor/other institutions.

Applicants for the heating aid/energy supplement submit individually or through owner/tenant associations the applications and self-declarations accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and the income obtained by the members at the DAS Oradea headquarters – Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city neighborhoods.

Monthly, the counselors with responsibilities process in the software program the newly registered requests/changes/cessations of rights for the period between the 21st of the month and the 20th of the next month; verify the truthfulness of the declared data, establish rights, draw up reports and orders, generate centralized lists with the beneficiaries and transmit them to energy suppliers and AJPIS Bihor; draw up Statistical Reports and send them to AJPIS Bihor; verify the payroll lists including beneficiaries sent by suppliers, forward them for certification and send them to AJPIS Bihor for settlement; draw up Payrolls for beneficiaries of aid/supplement for energy with solid and/or liquid fuels.

Conduct of Operations and Activities

- documentation regarding the legislative provisions in the field of heating aid/energy supplement – counselors with responsibilities within the Social Service;

- materials/supplies necessary for the proper conduct of the activity are requested from the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service within DAS Oradea by means of a requisition/report;

- printing of Application/Self-Declaration forms regarding changes/Field Check Sheet in collaboration with Oradea City Hall, based on an internal note/requisition to the Directorate for monitoring operating expenses and organizing events;

- a written request is made to the Economic Directorate within the City Hall of Oradea and to the thermal energy supplier for communicating the local billing price to the population for thermal energy;

- intent notices are sent to institutions holding databases for the conclusion of protocols/additional acts for monthly verification, throughout the benefit period (November – October), regarding income (salaries, allowances, pensions)/movable and immovable property of benefit applicants;

- the List of goods that lead to exclusion from benefit, the Index of necessary documents to be attached to applications, the Income ranges for each of the 4 types of aid will be displayed electronically on the institution's website and will also be available on paper; these documents will also be provided to Owners' Associations and in electronic format via email communication with the support of the Owners' Associations Guidance and Control Office within Oradea City Hall;

- the conditions for granting heating aid/energy supplement, as well as other information related to these benefits, will be made public in the local press through press releases;

- applicants will fill in the application and declaration accompanied by supporting documents regarding family composition, realized incomes as well as proof of living space, and will submit them individually to the Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service, to the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city neighborhoods or send them online;

- self-declaration applications are submitted until the 20th of each month in order to receive aid starting with the current month (e.g. – until November 20), and after the 20th of the month to benefit starting with the following month.

- The counselor, with permanent or temporary duties, verifies the correspondence between the data filled in the application and the supporting documents attached. For incomplete applications, the applicant will be informed, in writing (and verbally – by phone) through an invitation regarding the inconsistencies identified.

- The counselor writes his readable name, date and signature, records the application in the special register/software (only complete applications will be registered), each application having a distinct number containing the following elements: applicant's name and surname, supplier code, address, signature of the person submitting the application;

- A registration number from the special (electronic) register will be issued for each application submitted/type of heating – number under which the applications will also be archived;

- Complete and registered applications for granting heating aid/energy supplement with: thermal energy, electricity, solid or petroleum fuels as well as natural gas will be processed in the software program, being allocated a distinct number from the institution's CID program, forming the database for establishing the granting/denial of benefits. If there are suspicions regarding the veracity of the information declared by the applicant, field checks may be conducted (Field Check Sheet); if the applicant/beneficiary is not found at home, a Statement of findings is drawn up and an invitation is left in the mailbox in order to establish the possibility of conducting the visit and completing the Field Check Sheet;

- Within 15 working days from the registration date of the application for home heating with electricity, a field check is carried out (Field Check Sheet), a necessary and essential part, after which the data from the applications are processed in the program, and the granting/denial of benefits is established;

- Monthly, the movable and immovable assets of the applicants/beneficiaries of heating aid/energy supplement are checked by overlapping the database with the existing situation recorded by the Economic Directorate of Oradea City Hall as well as with the records of the Civil Status Service regarding deceased persons; also, on a monthly basis, based on concluded collaboration protocols, information is requested regarding the incomes of applicants/beneficiaries from A.J.P.I.S., A.J.O.F.M., C.J.P., etc. as well as, by internal note, the situation regarding personal assistants and allowances granted through DAS Oradea;

- Establishing the granting/denial, modification/cessation of heating aid/energy supplement is performed by order of the mayor, which is communicated to the holders, A.J.P.I.S. and suppliers within 5 days from the date of issuance; the calculation of the maximum aid in the case of heating aid with thermal energy is performed taking into account the average consumption set for the temperate zone and the local price per gigacalorie;

- Holders of heating aids are obliged to communicate any modification in the composition and income of the family, within 5 days from the date of the change, by submitting the Self-Declaration form regarding changes in the family composition and/or income, accompanied by supporting documents;

- Modifications or, as the case may be, cessation of the right to heating aid are made starting with the month following the one in which the change occurred;

- In case of changes, new orders regarding the modification of the aid will be issued.;

- At the beginning of the cold season, the payment method of the heating aid with solid fuels is established by order of the mayor;

- Monthly, after establishing the right to heating aid, the Centralized Reports for all types of aid/energy supplement are drawn up, containing: name, surname, supplier code, amount and percentage of aid, which are communicated to: suppliers and A.J.P.I.S.;

- Suppliers of thermal energy, electricity and natural gas send, based on the centralized report, payrolls to the owners’ associations; Owners’ associations have the obligation to send to the suppliers of thermal energy, electricity or natural gas the itemized consumptions;

- Based on the protocols, suppliers of thermal energy, electricity or gas calculate the actual aid and send the situation to DAS Oradea for certification by the mayor; the verified and certified reports constitute payment documents and are sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor for transferring the amounts into ESCROW accounts of the suppliers; one copy is sent back (electronically and/or printed) to the suppliers;

- Based on the monthly Centralized Report including the beneficiaries of heating aid/energy supplement with solid fuels sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor and according to the Decision on the method of payment of the benefits, DAS Oradea requests the necessary sums for the payment of benefits through the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service; the situation of heating aids/energy supplement with solid fuels is communicated monthly, by internal note, to the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service, which will make the payments based on the Payroll; if, at the end of the cold season, beneficiaries who have not collected their financial rights remain, Payrolls are drawn up, based on a written request from the beneficiary;

- The period during which heating aid with solid fuels will be paid will be communicated through mass media and by sms;

- Monthly, Statistical Reports are drawn up, including the beneficiaries of heating aid/energy supplement (numerically) distinctly for each type of aid (electricity, thermal energy, natural gas, solid fuels) and are sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor;

- In case it is found that the aid was granted unduly, it ceases starting with the following month and the mayor's order is issued in order to recover the sums granted as heating aid/energy supplement; the mayor's orders establishing debts are sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor in order to issue the Executive Director's Decisions regarding the recovery of unduly granted amounts;

- Resolved applications accompanied by supporting documents are archived in the order of the registration numbers in the special registers/software.

Beneficiaries

Heating aid and energy supplement are granted to families and single persons with low incomes to cover all or, as the case may be, part of the expenses for heating the home during the cold season November – March and to ensure all or, where appropriate, part of the expenses for home lighting, facilitating cooking and providing hot water in the home, ensuring continuity of electricity supply for equipment on which the life of persons depends, for health reasons, and the use of communication means requiring energy, for the period November - October.

Granting the Right

Families and single persons with low incomes who use central heating supplied thermal energy benefit from aid by percentage compensation of the actual thermal energy bill. Vulnerable consumers who use natural gas, solid or petroleum fuels or electricity for home heating benefit monthly, depending on the average net monthly income per family member, of an amount established by law. The energy supplement is granted in a fixed amount, depending on the sources of energy supply used. The funds needed for the payment of heating aid are provided from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity.