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

Content and role of documents

Content of the documents – personal data, information regarding the income earned by applicants, and information regarding the goods owned;

Role of the documents - they are the basis for establishing or denying the right to heating aid/energy supplement, for changing or terminating the granting of these benefits; rights are established by issuing the mayor's disposition.

Document flow

- Documents serving as the basis for granting aid: Applications and affidavits accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and income earned by its members are registered by applicants at the DAS Oradea headquarters - Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods; data are processed in a software program; at the end of the granting period (November – October) an archive is established;

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

Applicants for housing heating aid/energy supplement submit individually or through homeowners/tenants associations applications and affidavits accompanied by supporting documents regarding the family composition and income earned by its members at the DAS Oradea headquarters – Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service and at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods.

Monthly, counselors with responsibilities process in the software program the newly registered applications/changes/termination of rights for the period between the 21st of the month and the 20th of the following month; they verify the accuracy of declared data, determine rights, prepare reports and dispositions, generate summary reports with beneficiaries, and send them to energy providers and AJPIS Bihor; prepare statistical reports and send them to AJPIS Bihor; check the summary sheets with beneficiaries sent by providers, forward them for certification, and send them to AJPIS Bihor for reimbursement; prepare payrolls for beneficiaries of aid/supplement for energy with solid and/or liquid fuels.

Conducting the operations and actions of the activity

- documenting legislative provisions regarding housing heating aid/energy supplement – counselors with responsibilities from the Social Service;

- requests are sent to the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service within DAS Oradea via a Note for necessary materials/supplies for the proper conduct of activities;

- forms for Application/Affidavit regarding occurred changes/Field verification sheet are printed in collaboration with Oradea City Hall, based on a Reference/Internal Note to the Directorate for monitoring operating expenses and event organization;

- a written request is addressed to the Economic Directorate of Oradea City Hall and the thermal energy provider for communicating the local billing price for thermal energy to the public;

- intent letters are sent to institutions holding databases for the conclusion of protocols/additional acts for monthly checks, throughout the period of granting benefits (November – October), regarding incomes (salaries, allowances, pensions) / movable and immovable goods of benefit applicants;

- Lists of assets leading to exclusion from aid eligibility, List of required documents to be attached to applications, and Income brackets for each of the 4 types of aid will be posted in electronic format on the institution's website and also made available on paper; these documents will also be made available to homeowners’ associations and electronically via email communication with the support of the Guidance and Control Office for Homeowners Associations within Oradea City Hall;

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

- applicants will fill out the Application and affidavit accompanied by supporting documents regarding family composition, earned incomes, and proof of housing, and will submit them individually at the Public Relations and Initial Evaluation Service, at the Multifunctional Social Centers in the city's neighborhoods, or send them online ;

- Applications and affidavits must be submitted by the 20th of each month to benefit from aid starting with the current month (e.g. – by 20 November), and after the 20th of the month to benefit starting the following month.

- The counselor, with permanent or temporary responsibilities, checks the consistency 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) via an invitation about the identified discrepancies.

- The counselor writes their legible name, date, and signature, registers the application in the special register/software program (only complete applications will be registered), each application having a unique number containing the following elements: applicant’s name and surname, provider code, address, signature of the person who submitted the application;

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

- Complete and registered applications for granting housing heating aid/energy supplement with: thermal energy, electric energy, solid or petroleum fuels as well as natural gas will be processed in the software program, being assigned a unique number from the institution’s CID program, and forming a database for determining the granting/denial of benefits. If there are suspicions regarding the accuracy of what the applicant has declared, field checks may be carried out (Field verification sheet); if the applicant/beneficiary is not found at home, a Finding Note is drawn up and an invitation is left in the mailbox to determine the possibility of conducting the home visit and completing the Verification Sheet;

- Within 15 working days from the registration date of the application for housing heating with electricity, the field verification (Field verification sheet) is carried out, a necessary and essential part, after which the data from the applications are processed in the software, determining the granting/denial of benefits;

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

- Granting/denial, modification/termination of housing heating aid/energy supplement is performed by mayoral disposition, which will be communicated to holders, A.J.P.I.S., and providers within 5 days from the date of issuance; the calculation of the maximum aid for housing heating with thermal energy is performed considering the average consumption established for the temperate area and the local price of gigacalorie;

- Holders of heating aid are required to communicate any changes in family composition and their incomes within 5 days from the date of change, by submitting the affidavit regarding changes in family composition and/or their incomes, accompanied by supporting documents;

- Changes or, as the case may be, termination of the right to housing heating aid are made starting with the month following the change;

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

- At the beginning of the cold season, the method of payment of aid for heating with solid fuels is established by mayoral disposition;

- After establishing the right to heating aid each month, centralizing reports for all types of aid/energy supplement containing: name, surname, provider code, amount and percentage of aid are drawn up and communicated to: providers and A.J.P.I.S.;

- Heat, electricity, and natural gas suppliers send, based on the summary report, borderaux to the homeowners’ associations; Homeowners’ associations are required to transmit to the suppliers of thermal energy, electricity or natural gas the itemized consumptions;

- Based on the official records, providers of thermal energy, electricity, or gas calculate the actual aid and send the situation to DAS Oradea for certification by the mayor; the checked and certified situations serve as payment documents and are sent to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor for the transfer of funds to the ESCROW-type accounts of the providers; a copy is resent (electronically and/or in print) to the providers;

- Based on the monthly summary report including the beneficiaries of heating/energy supplement aid with solid fuels submitted to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor and in accordance with the Disposition regarding the method of payment of benefits, DAS Oradea requests the amounts required for the payment of benefits through the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service; the situation of heating/energy supplement aid with solid fuels is communicated monthly, via internal note, with the Economic-Financial and Administrative Service, which will make the payments based on the Payroll; if, at the end of the cold season, there are beneficiaries who have not collected their financial entitlements, payrolls are drawn up based on a written request from the beneficiary;

- The period for making the payment of heating aid for housing with solid fuels will be communicated through mass media and by SMS;

- Statistical reports are drawn up monthly including the beneficiaries of heating/energy supplement aid (number) separately for each type of aid (electricity, thermal energy, natural gas, solid fuels) and submitted to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor;

- In the event of undue granting of aid, it ceases with the following month and the mayor's disposition is issued for the recovery of sums granted as heating/energy supplement aid; The mayor’s dispositions establishing debts are forwarded to A.J.P.I.S. Bihor for the issuance of the Executive Director’s Decision regarding the recovery of amounts unduly granted;

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

Beneficiaries

Heating aid and energy supplement are granted to families and single persons with low incomes to fully or partially cover housing heating expenses, for the cold season period November – March, and to fully or partially cover expenses for home lighting, supporting cooking facilities and providing hot water in the home, ensuring continuity of electricity supply for equipment on which peoples’ lives depend, for health reasons and for the use of communication devices involving energy use for the period November - October.

Granting of the right

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