Union asks STF to reduce impact of lifetime review on INSS

The Attorney General’s Office (AGU) appealed to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on the revision of the entire life of pensions from the National Social Security Institute (INSS). In December, the plenary of the Court authorized the recalculation of the benefit to include contributions prior to the implementation of the Real Plan, in 1994. The decision benefited, above all, retirees who made high contributions before 1994 and who sought the recalculation of their benefits in court . Now, the AGU asks that all legal proceedings related to the matter be suspended until the Supreme Court clarifies several points questioned by the Union, which said there were unclear points in the judgment. One of the AGU’s main requests is for the Supreme Court’s decision to take effect only from now on, not allowing the review of pensions already paid, prohibiting, in practice, beneficiaries from asking for the payment of late amounts to which they would be entitled. Another request from the Union is for the Supreme Court to establish when the right expires, that is, after how long the beneficiaries lose the right to claim the recalculation of retirement. The idea is to avoid demanding the payment of waste related to installments paid for decades. In short, the Union wants the Supreme to exclude benefits that are already extinct from the judgment and also those paid under the old rules, so that there is no retroactive effect of the decision. Another request is that it is not possible to request the recalculation if the beneficiary has already had the procedure definitively denied by the Justice, before the new understanding of the STF. Such measures would be necessary “to preserve legal certainty and due to the impact of the new general repercussion thesis on public accounts, as well as taking into account the limits of the administrative capacity of the INSS”, says the text of the motion for clarification presented by the AGU . The petition also cites the administrative difficulties at the INSS to process the recalculation of who is entitled. This is because, according to the institute’s manifestation in the process, the current systems do not allow the insertion of values ​​prior to the Real Plan. To modify the programs, it will be necessary to make technological investments. Understand The case judged by the STF deals with an appeal by the INSS against a decision by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) that guaranteed an insured person of the General Social Security System (RGPS) the possibility of revising the benefit based on contributions over the previous period to the year 1994. During the process, associations that defend retirees asked that social security contributions made before July 1994 be considered in the calculation of benefits. These contributions were no longer considered as a result of the 1999 Social Security reform, whose transition rules excluded payments before the Real Plan from the account. According to the entities, INSS insured persons had a reduction in the benefit due to the disregard of these contributions. Responsible for managing the body, the federal government maintained in the STF that the change aggravates the country’s fiscal situation, with expected impacts of up to R$ 46 billion to public coffers over the next ten to 15 years. In February of this year, the virtual plenary of the STF had already formed a majority of 6 votes to 5 in favor of the revision of the whole life. Then, a prominent request from Minister Nunes Marques suspended the virtual trial, and the issue was referred to the physical plenary.

Agência Brasil