Frame of reference On-line transmission of death from City Councils / municipalities

1. The cancellation of pensions and social assistance benefits in case of the recipient’s death: the Italian experience Mrs. Lucia Zimmaro (Italian Institute of Social Protection-INPS, Pension Directorate) Paris, 19 september 2017

2. INDEX • Frame of reference • On-line transmission of death from City Councils/municipalities • National record of personal data(I.N.A.) • On-line transmission of death from doctors • Verificationthat Inps beneficiaries are alive • Future perspectives – nationalrecords of residentpopolation (ANPR)

3. FRAME OF REFERENCE Italianterritoryisscatteredinto 7.981 city councils (Comuni) which are under control by the Ministry of Interiors or Home Office. On the 1st january 2017 Inps paied 20.929.854 pensions. 3.915.126 of whichas social assistancepensions.

4. On–line transmission of death pensioners by City Councils Art. 34, law 903 of 21° July 1965, statedthat City Councils are obliged to inform INPS of anychangement in personal and family situation of citizens: marriage or death. The goal of that duty is to keep under control death of pensioners and the allowancesgranted to theirsurvivors Law n. 289 of the 27th dicembre 2002, introduces City Council’s duty of informing INPS about the death of pensionersthrough an on-line procedure. That information must be transmittedwithin 15 days from the day of death. Thanks to thatrulecitizensneed no more to send the death certificate in paper to INPS. Law n. 326 of 2003, re-inforces the City Councilsobligation to inform Inps aboutdeceasedpensioners and statesthatcouncilofficerswhofail to do so can be subjected to payfines.

5. National record of personal data(I.N.A.) 1/4 Law n. 133 of 6 August 2008 statesthatcommunications must be transmittedwithintwo (2) days from the situation’soccurence The late transmission of information to Inps foresees the  possibility of holding city council officials liable for damage to the treasury (tax losses) Law n.2 of 28 January 2009 establishesasfollowing:  “within 24 hours from the registration of the event in the CouncilRegistry, the city council office transmitsthatvariation to  (I.N.A.) National Record of Personal Data.

6. National record of personal data(I.N.A.) 2/4 INA – set up in the Home Office by a 2011 legislation to enhance the control and management of the population data (personal data of citizens)- is the technologicalstructure for the exchange of population data among city councilregistry and public institutions. Thuspermitting to identifycitizens by anypubblic body through a uniquekeysearchwhichis the fiscal code.( Codice Fiscale C.F.) The fiscal codeis a16 alphanumericdigits line whichidentifiesanycitizens and isgiven to thematbirth by Tax Office.

7. National record of personal data(I.N.A.) 3/4 INA, set up and managed by the Home Office, is a free service accessible online by all City Councilsthat are obliged to keepitupdated The data store in INA are sent to public institutionsthrough a security infrastructurecalled«Sistema di Accesso e di Interscambio Anagrafico» (S.A.I.A.). The personal data flow aboutcitizensdeathallows INPS to a timely update of itsfiles and therefore to delete promptly the pensions and thusavoiding to providepensionsallowancesafter the death of beneficiaries.

8. National record of personal data (I.N.A.) 4/4 Since 2009, INPS set up a specialised staff whoensure the properfunctioning of information transmission and are in contact with the city councilofficials and send to the Home Office anyfailure of the system or problemarisen. The on-line transmission of data havereachedtoday99,9% of the population and 99,1% of City Councils. Thanks to that online procedure and the promptsending of information, pensions are deleted in less time thanbefore and thus the undue or wrongpayments by banks or post office are reduced.

9. On-line transmission of death from doctors Law n. 190 of 23rd december 2014, statedthatdoctors must send the death certificate to INPS by the online procedure within 48 hours.Doctorswhofail to do so incurr to the samefinesas for the city councilofficials. The bankswhere the accounts to whichpensionsa are paied, are obliged to do asfollowing: • promptlygive back to Inps the pensionamountsif the beneficiaryisnot more entitled to them; • Giving to INPS personal details of the personwhogets the moneyifitisimpossible for the bank to payit back. Afterreceiving a death information by City Council or a doctor, INPS, thanks to online procedure, finds the person in its data base and changeappropriately the data (pensiondeletion or withdrawal, variation of marital status, etc.)

10. Verificationthat Inps beneficiaries are alive 1/2 The update of personal data variationsthrough the online communication of deaths by the city councils, allows INPS to continuoslymonitoring the beneficiaresqualifyingconditions to be eligible for pension To reduce the risk of unduepayments and fraudes INPS carries out periodically some complexoperations to verifythatpensioners are stillalive. This goal isrealized by comparing INPS and city councilsfiles. Theseoperations are carried out by checking some pensions and the personal data of beneficiares and thencompared to some personal criteriadefined time to time (peopleolderthan 100 or 90 years, etc.)

11. Verificationthat Inps beneficiaries are alive 2/2 Usually in such an activity INPS doesnot delete position immediatelybutafter an accurate control of local office. This control allows INPS to take the appropiateactions, i.e. judicial or administrative and furthermore to checkif the City Councilprocedurs are correct. Asfouraspensionpayedabroad, Citibank is in a charge of verifyngthatbeneficiares are stillalive.

12. Future perspectives  - National records of residentpopolation (ANPR)  1/3 ANPR, National Record of ResidentPopulaton, was set up with decree n. 179 of 2012 to semplify the management of personal data of population ( residentpopulaton in Italy and italiansabroad) ANPR represents the technological progress of a processaimed to collectall City Council personal data contained in INA and AIRE in a unique database. In such a way ANPR provides a complete and uploadet database of the wholeitalianpopulation.

13. Future perspectives  - National records of residentpopolation (ANPR)  2/3 ANPR is an easy tool of consultationas to citizens, business, companies and public institutions. The mainpurposes of setting up ANPR are asfollowing: • to avoid double personal data; • to havesame personal data in each database;. • to facilitate personal data circulation; • to improve the public control over City Councilproceedings. 8000 City Council database willgother to ANPR, thisbecoming the unique database of personal data.

14. Future perspectives  -Nationalrecords of residentpopolation (ANPR)  3/3 The outcomes are the following: • The timely information concerning personal data by public institutions; • Integration of personal data from other public institutions database in ANPR; • ANPR is the only provider of citizens data to public institutions. Personal data will be formallycontrolled by the Ministry to guaranteetheirintegrity, uniqueness and safety. ANPR, whencompleted, will be a new database, easy to consult, safe and of greatstretegicalimportance.