Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government has proposed law changes aimed at preventing social benefits fraud, according to a press release from the social affairs and health ministry.
The statement noted that the total value of benefit fraud cases leading to investigation request filings amounted to around seven million euros last year.
The ministry said that it aims to give social security agency Kela more authority that it currently has to ensure benefits are not being misused.
According to the ministry, the proposal wants to give Kela the ability to use the Bank and Payment Account Monitoring System to obtain information on a customer’s financial situation directly from financial institutions more often than at present.
It said that clients would still be able to select how transaction information is provided.
"They could refuse to allow Kela to request transaction data from financial institutions and instead submit the information themselves, as they do now. However, choosing an electronic request as the delivery method would significantly simplify the customer’s interaction with Kela. It would remove all application steps related to submitting bank statements and shorten processing times," the ministry release explained.
Hiding accounts wouldn't be possible
Hiding bank accounts from the benefits agency would no longer be possible after the proposed changes take effect, according to the ministry.
It noted that Kela already uses banking data when making decisions about recipients' benefits, but at the moment, clients provide that information themselves.
According to Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn‑Laasonen (NCP), misusing benefits is a crime and an abuse of taxpayers' money,
"We are now taking action to address these abuses and giving Kela stronger powers to obtain information. We are also stepping up the fight against fraud and forgery more broadly and, in future, we will do so more effectively in relation to Kela benefits as well. Fairness also means that shared public funds are not misused," Grahn‑Laasonen said in the release.
The ministry noted that the proposal is based on the government's programme, which was created when it started its term.
