Understand what changes in the INSS proof of life

About 36 million INSS retirees and pensioners will no longer be required to go to a bank branch responsible for paying the benefit to prove that they are alive, according to an ordinance signed this Wednesday (2) by the federal government.

Check out the answers to the main questions about what changes with the end of the requirement of proof of life in person:

Is the proof of life suspended?

No. The new government ordinance will prohibit the INSS from obliging policyholders to take the test in person, at bank branches. The responsibility for proving that the insured is still alive will fall to the INSS, according to the body’s president, José Carlos Oliveira.

How will the INSS prove that the retiree or pensioner is still alive?

The INSS can prove that the beneficiary is still alive in two ways. The main one will be by crossing the insured’s information in databases. If the benefit holder carries out transactions such as issuing a passport or renewing a CNH (National Driver’s License), the system will understand that he is alive. Thus, the proof of life will be done automatically.

Which period will be analyzed?

The period analyzed will be the ten months after the holder’s last birthday, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the INSS.

Which movements will be considered proof that the insured is alive?

The list released by the government, to be confirmed in the new ordinance to be published, includes:

• vaccination records
• consultations in the SUS (Unified Health System)
• voting certificate in elections
• issuance or renewal of passport
• issuance or duplicate of the identity card
• issuance or renewal of the driver’s license
• operations registered in a database of private institutions, not yet detailed by the government
• consigned loan contracting

If no movement is performed, what will be done?

If the insured does not carry out any movement during this period, exceptionally, the face-to-face proof of life may be carried out. But who should go to the insured is the INSS, according to a government note. The agency must offer means for the proof of life to be carried out without the insured person leaving home, through partner entities or even banks that pay the benefit. Details will be released when the ordinance is published.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, these beneficiaries should preferably carry out the annual re-registration electronically, using the Meu INSS application or biometrics, at the ATMs of the bank responsible for the payment.

Can I continue taking the life test at the bank?

Yes. According to the government, those who prefer can continue to go to the bank to prove that they are alive and guarantee the continuity of receiving the benefit. Banks will not be able to deny carrying out the procedure, according to the ministry.

Is the proof of life calendar still valid?

In a note, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the INSS stated that “the institute [INSS] has until December 31 of this year to implement the necessary changes to comply with the provisions of the ordinance. Until that date, the payment block due to lack of proof of life is suspended.”

Therefore, the change surprised experts in the field, despite being considered positive. The measure will still be detailed by the ordinance to be published, but Adriane Bramante, a social security lawyer, believes that the calendar announced in December will be suspended. According to this calendar, there were maximum deadlines for regularization for those who did not re-register in 2020 and 2021. Before the announcement of the new rules, the INSS had established that benefits without registration update until December 2020 would have until February to regularize the data.

THE leaf contacted the INSS to check the validity of the calendar, but received no response until the publication of this report.

“I understand that from what was announced today [quarta], there will be no suspension of benefit due to proof of life and all procedures will be modified. I understand that the calendar is suspended until further regulation”, says Bramante.

Is the change positive for policyholders?

The change was considered an advance by specialists in the area, such as the social security lawyer and president of Ieprev, Roberto de Carvalho Santos, but it is viewed with caution, especially considering the recent cut of INSS resources carried out by the government.

“There are already systems that communicate with each other, so it ended up placing too much onus for the insured to make this proof of life, through complex procedures or in difficult moments, such as during lockdown periods. They ended up not receiving the benefit until able to do the proof of life”, he says.

“On the one hand, the INSS advances by releasing the insured person from carrying out the proof of life in person at a time that is still a pandemic. On the other hand, this will require improvements in artificial intelligence and data crossing systems. The cut of R$ 988 million in INSS expenses made by President Bolsonaro needs to be reviewed, because now another responsibility of great importance for Social Security is assigned.”

Operationalization will be a challenge, says social security lawyer Wagner Souza. “The question is whether the government will be able to satisfactorily fulfill this obligation of tracking databases of other federative entities. Within the Union it is simpler, but this access to the database of states and municipalities, or even companies, It is not yet clear how it will be done.”

How was it done before?

The proof of life was in person, in the month of the insured’s birthday. It could be carried out via service with an employee or at the ATM, with biometrics. Anyone who had facial biometrics registered with Denatran (National Traffic Department) or TSE (Superior Electoral Court), due to their driver’s license or voter registration card, could take the proof of life on the Meu INSS app.