Thousands of pensioners have addressed, in recent years, the competent authorities asking for the recalculation of the pension or contesting the retirement decision or filing complaints against the pension houses and other public institutions with attributions in the field of social insurance.
Thousands of retirees have challenged their retirement decisions in recent years. Photo by Alina Mitran
This significant volume of referrals highlights the fact that, in practice, there may be inconsistencies in the way pension rights are established or difficulties in understanding and applying the legislation. For this reason, it is important that pensioners are properly informed about their rights and the legal ways in which they can challenge a retirement decision or ask for their pension to be recalculated, when they believe that their rights have not been correctly determined.
In this context, the clear presentation of the appeal and recalculation procedures becomes essential, to ensure transparency and to prevent financial losses caused by possible administrative errors or data interpretation in the retirement files.
When you can appeal the retirement decision and how the pension can be recalculated
The retirement decision can be contested when there are indications that the pension has been wrongly calculated or does not correctly reflect the actual rights of the insured person. In practice, such situations frequently arise when certain incomes have not been taken into account, contribution periods are missing from the records or the documents submitted to the file have not been correctly capitalized by the pension fund.
An essential element is the legal term of appeal. Normally, the retirement decision can be appealed within 45 days from the date of its communication. If this deadline is exceeded, the decision usually becomes administratively final, which limits the possibilities for correction. However, there are special situations, depending on the type of pension and the nature of the error, in which further recalculation steps can be initiated.
In the case of the disability pension, the procedure has a particular character, as it also includes a prior medical stage. Thus, the medical decision regarding work capacity can be contested within a shorter period, usually 30 days, through specific medical evaluation mechanisms and specialized commissions.
How can the pension be recalculated?
The recalculation of the pension can be carried out through several mechanisms, depending on the concrete situation. One of the most common ways is to submit a recalculation request to the pension fund, especially when new documents appear or when obvious errors are found in the initial calculation.
In situations where the administrative response is not favorable, an administrative appeal can be filed against the retirement decision. If even this stage does not lead to the correction of the situation, the interested person has the possibility to address the court through a legal action, requesting the recalculation of pension rights.
Within these procedures, several types of errors can be corrected, the most common being:
-
incomes that were not included in the pension calculation basis;
-
increments and other unutilized salary rights;
-
unregistered or incomplete periods of seniority;
-
contributions misinterpreted or wrongly highlighted in the retirement file.
How the pension is calculated
The amount of the pension is established on the basis of a points system, which reflects the contributions made throughout the working life. The calculation is made according to several essential factors, the most important of which are:
The issuance of the retirement decision determines the termination of the service relationship, even if the suspension of the pension had been requested
-
the total score accumulated by the insured;
-
contribution period completed;
-
income for which contributions to the social insurance system have been paid.
These elements form the basis for calculating the pension, and any error in their highlighting can directly lead to the establishment of a lower amount than the legally due one.
Essentially, if the pension has been determined incorrectly, there is a legal right to request its correction, either by recalculation or by appeal, within the time limits provided by law. Careful verification of the documents in your pension file is essential, as even seemingly minor omissions can have a significant impact on your final pension amount and lead to long-term financial losses.
Pensioners' rights, violated by some pension houses
Numerous complaints regarding the activity of some pension houses, including from abroad, were sent to the People's Advocate last year, generally reporting calculation errors or failure to recalculate pensions based on the new law, but also major delays in its application.
Most of the petitions addressed by pensioners refer to the application of Law no. 360/2023 regarding the public pension system, more precisely to dysfunctions in the implementation of an integrated IT system, these and the large volume of work at the level of pension houses generating long delays in the settlement of requests.
Pensioners' rights, violated by some pension houses, including from abroad
Through the petitions sent to the Ombudsman, criticism was expressed regarding:
– delays in resolving requests for pension review, establishing pension rights or switching from one type of pension to another;
– the manner in which some territorial pension houses proceeded with the calculation or recalculation of pensions with the wrong calculation of the points or the non-consideration by the pension houses of all the submitted documents;
– the method of establishing the amount of the pension of persons who carried out their activity in special/unique working conditions;
– difficulties in obtaining certificates attesting to the seniority or amount of salaries and permanent increments necessary for the recalculation of pensions;
– delays in the payment of established pension rights;
– suspension of the payment of pensions;
– the refusal of pension houses to enforce final and irrevocable court decisions establishing pension rights;
– difficulties in obtaining an international or community pension in Romania;
– the abusive behavior of some pension house employees.
