On State Pension

Law of Georgia

On State Pension

The purpose of this Law is to ensure the realization of the social-economic rights of elderly citizens of Georgia guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia and to establish a state pension (hereinafter – pension) within the framework of existing resources.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018.

Article 1. The Law's🔗

regulation

scope

and

subject

1. This Law regulates the grounds for the emergence of the right to a pension, determines the body administering the pension, and establishes the general principles of the assignment, payment, suspension, renewal, termination of the pension and receipt of the pension.

2. This Law applies to:

a) citizens of Georgia;

b) stateless persons having status in Georgia;

c) foreign nationals who, as of the moment of submission of the application for the assignment of a pension, have permanently resided in the territory of Georgia on a lawful basis during the last 10 years.

3. Persons specified in subparagraph „b“ of paragraph 2 of this Article have rights equal to those of citizens of Georgia, unless otherwise provided by the international treaties and agreements of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 25 May 2012 No. 6301 – website, 12.06.2012.

Article 2. Legislation on Pensions🔗

The legislation on pensions consists of the Constitution of Georgia, the international treaties and agreements of Georgia, this Law, other legislative acts and the normative acts issued on their basis.

Article 3. Basic Principles of the Law🔗

The basic principles of this Law are:

a) protection of human rights;

b) equality before the law;

c) universality;

d) permanence;

e) solidarity between generations;

f) state guarantee of receiving a pension.

Article 4. Definition of terms🔗

The terms used in this Law have the following meaning:

a) application – a written or electronic request concerning a pension submitted by an authorised person in accordance with the procedure established by this Law;

b) death – the death of a person, confirmed by a competent body, or declaration as deceased or recognition as missing without trace in accordance with the legislation of Georgia;

c) public activity – remunerated employment carried out in the state service and public service, including in a legal entity of public law (except for political and religious organisations, general education institutions, vocational and higher education institutions, scientific-research institutions, the National Academy of Sciences of Georgia, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Georgia, museums, libraries, school-boarding schools, institutions carrying out early and pre-school upbringing and education, out-of-school and upbringing activities). Remunerated employment carried out in a precinct election commission and remunerated employment carried out by a temporary member of a district election commission shall not be considered public activity. Information on such remunerated employment as falls within public activity shall be provided to the competent body in an agreed format by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia;

d) (removed – 24.04.2012, No. 6061);

e) applicant – a person having the right to receive a pension from the moment of submission of an application on the granting of a pension;

f) pensioner – a person who has been granted a pension in accordance with this Law;

g) Minister – the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia;

h) permanently resident person – a person who has a lawful permanent place of residence in Georgia, notwithstanding lawful work, study or travel outside the borders of Georgia;

i) pension – a monthly monetary benefit granted to a person in accordance with this Law;

j) competent body – a legal entity of public law created by the Government of Georgia for the purposes provided for by this Law – the Social Service Agency, whose state control, appointment of a person with representative authority and approval of the charter shall be ensured by the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia;

k) (removed – 24.04.2012, No. 6061).

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 1 November 2013 No. 1490 – website, 11.11.2013.

Law of Georgia of 29 May 2014 No. 2483 – website, 02.06.2014.

Law of Georgia of 27 October 2015 No. 4376 – website, 11.11.2015.

Law of Georgia of 8 June 2016 No. 5376 – website, 24.06.2016.

Law of Georgia of 21 December 2016 No. 149 – website, 28.12.2016.

Law of Georgia of 23 March 2017 No. 503 – website, 27.03.2017.

Law of Georgia No. 2117 of 4 April 2018 – website, 18.04.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 3079 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.07.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 5467 of 11 December 2019 – website, 19.12.2019.

Article 5. Emergence of the Right to a Pension🔗

1. The ground for the emergence of the right to a pension is the attainment of pension age – 65 years. At the same time, the right to a pension shall emerge for women from the age of 60.

2. If a person simultaneously acquires the right to the benefits provided for by this Law and by the Law of Georgia "On State Compensation and State Academic Scholarship", that person shall have the right to claim only one benefit conferred by law, at his or her own choice.

3. The right to a pension shall not emerge and an emerged right shall be terminated during the period in which a person performs public activity.

4. The operation of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not extend to the persons defined by subparagraphs "l"–"p" of paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the Law of Georgia "On State Compensation and State Academic Scholarship".

Law of Georgia No. 6061 of 24 April 2012 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia No. 2422 of 14 May 2014 – website, 22.05.2014.

Law of Georgia No. 3896 of 3 July 2015 – website, 10.07.2015.

Law of Georgia No. 2629 of 27 June 2018 – website, 06.07.2018.

Law of Georgia No. 4614 of 29 May 2019 – website, 05.06.2019.

Article 6. (Removed)🔗

Law of Georgia No. 6061 of 24 April 2012 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 7. Source of pension financing, amount and calculation rule🔗

1. The source of pension financing is the State Budget of Georgia. The amount of the pension shall be determined annually by the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year, in accordance with the calculation rule and conditions established by this Law.

2. In the draft Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year submitted by the Government of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia on the basis of Articles 38 and 39 of the Budget Code of Georgia, the amount of the pension shall be determined as the pension determined by the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the current year, increased by:

a) for pensioners under 70 years of age − by the average inflation rate of the last 12 months, but by not less than GEL 20;

b) for pensioners aged 70 and over − by the sum of the average inflation rate of the last 12 months and 80 per cent of the arithmetic mean of the real growth rates of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the last 6 quarters, but by not less than GEL 25.

3. If the amount of the pension increased in accordance with the rule established by paragraph 2 of this article is less than a multiple of 5, the amount of the pension shall be rounded upwards to the nearest multiple of 5.

4. The amount of the pension, in accordance with the rule established by this article, shall be increased from the very first month of the respective budget year.

5. For the purposes of this article:

a) the inflation rate shall be determined as the average consumer price index for 12 months compared with the average consumer price index for the previous 12 months, as provided for by the official data published by the Legal Entity of Public Law − the National Statistics Office of Georgia, at the moment of submission by the Government of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia of the draft Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year on the basis of Articles 38 and 39 of the Budget Code of Georgia, rounded to the nearest tenth;

b) the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) shall be determined as the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in a quarter compared with the real growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, as provided for by the official data published by the Legal Entity of Public Law − the National Statistics Office of Georgia, at the moment of submission by the Government of Georgia to the Parliament of Georgia of the draft Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year on the basis of Articles 38 and 39 of the Budget Code of Georgia, rounded to the nearest tenth.

6. It shall be inadmissible to determine the amount of the pension by a rule different from the calculation rule established by this article.

Law of Georgia of 14 December 2007 No. 5601 - LHG I, No. 47, 26.12.2007, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 2 July 2020 No. 6728 – website, 08.07.2020

Article 8. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Article 9. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 10. Administration of the pension🔗

1. The rights and obligations of the pension administration/competent body are:

a) assignment of the pension, organisation of its payment, suspension, resumption, termination and recalculation;

b) use in its activities of the relevant software, automated management tools and the electronic document management system.

2. Correspondence between the applicant/pensioner and the competent body may be conducted in written or electronic form. At the same time, any notification or other document sent in electronic form shall be deemed delivered upon its receipt by the addressee.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 21 April 2017 No. 662 – website, 10.05.2017.

Article 11. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 12. Rights and obligations of the pensioner🔗

1. The pensioner has the right to:

a) receive the pension in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia;

b) receive social assistance and/or medical services, taking into account the procedures and conditions established by the legislation of Georgia;

c) enjoy other rights provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

2. The pensioner is obliged to:

a) notify the competent body of the occurrence of a circumstance entailing the termination of the payment of the pension, no later than 15 days from the occurrence of that circumstance;

b) fulfil other obligations provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018.

Article 13. Application for the assignment of the pension🔗

1. An application for the assignment of the pension, together with all necessary documents, shall be submitted to the competent body.

2. (removed – 24.04.2012, No. 6061).

3. The list of documents necessary for the assignment of the pension, the processing of pension documentation, as well as the procedure and conditions for the assignment of the pension shall be determined by a normative act of the Minister.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 14. Decision on the assignment of the pension🔗

1. An application for the assignment of the pension shall be considered by the competent body no later than 10 days from the submission of the application and all necessary documents.

2. Where the competent body adopts a decision on the assignment of the pension, the pension shall be assigned from the first day of the month following the submission of the application, if the application is submitted in the month in which the right to the pension arises or at any time from the arising of the relevant ground, and it meets the conditions for receiving the pension provided for by this Law.

3. (removed – 24.04.2012, No. 6061).

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018.

Article 15. Procedure for payment of pension🔗

1. Pension shall be paid on the territory of Georgia.

2. Pension shall be paid at any place, according to the pensioner's wish.

3. Payment of the current month's pension, including its delivery to the place, shall be carried out no later than the end of the following month.

4. The organisation of pension payment shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure and conditions established by a normative act of the Minister.

Article 16. Suspension and resumption of pension🔗

1. Pension shall be suspended from the first day of the month following the occurrence of one of the grounds listed below:

a) when the person fails to receive the pension for 6 consecutive months;

b) when the person is in pre-trial detention;

c) on another ground, if it follows from this Law.

2. Pension shall be resumed from the first day of the following month and the unreceived amount shall be compensated for the past period, but not more than 1 year from the day of suspension of the pension:

a) in the case provided for by subparagraph „a“ of paragraph 1 of this Article − after the pensioner submits an application to the competent body for the resumption of the pension;

b) in the case provided for by subparagraph „b“ of paragraph 1 of this Article − when an acquittal judgment is rendered in respect of the person;

c) in the case provided for by subparagraph „c“ of paragraph 1 of this Article – after the elimination of the ground for suspension of the pension.

Law of Georgia of 5 June 2007 No. 4857 - LHG I, No. 20, 16.06.2007, Art. 173

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018

Article 17. Termination of Pension🔗

1. A pension shall be terminated from the first day of the month following the occurrence of one of the grounds listed below, unless otherwise determined by this paragraph:

a) by personal application;

b) during the period of performance of public activity;

c) upon entry into legal force of a court's conviction judgment by which imprisonment was imposed on the person, – from the day of suspension of the pension;

d) upon deportation of a foreign national or a stateless person from Georgia;

e) upon a person's departure from Georgian citizenship or loss of Georgian citizenship by a person;

f) upon the death of the pensioner;

g) after the expiry of 3 years from the day of suspension of the pension;

h) on another ground, if it follows from this Law.

2. One of the sources for the termination of a pension is the information contained in the electronic database maintained by the civil acts registration body, which is provided to the competent body in automatic mode.

Law of Georgia of 5 June 2007 No. 4857 - LHG I, No. 20, 16.06.2007, Art. 173

Law of Georgia of 14 December 2007 No. 5601 - LHG I, No. 47, 26.12.2007, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 14 March 2008 No. 5869 - LHG I, No. 6, 25.03.2008, Art. 24

Law of Georgia of 9 March 2010 No. 2709 - LHG I, No. 12, 24.03.2010, Art. 75

Law of Georgia of 4 May 2010 No. 3044 - LHG I, No. 25, 17.05.2010, Art. 167

Law of Georgia of 20 December 2011 No. 5577 - website, 28.12.2011

Law of Georgia of 25 May 2012 No. 6317 – website, 19.06.2012

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018

Article 18. Compensation of the Uncollected Amount of Pension in the Event of the Death of a Person🔗

1. A pension that was due to a person and was not collected at the time of his/her death shall be given to his/her heirs, if they applied for the uncollected amount not later than one year from the day of the person's death.

2. When several heirs apply for the receipt of the said amount of pension, the amount due shall be distributed among them in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.

Article 19. Deduction of Amounts from Pension🔗

1. Deduction of amounts from a pension may be made on the basis of a decision of the relevant body or court.

2. The return of an over-accrued pension is possible by way of deduction of not more than 20% of the assigned pension by a decision of the competent body in cases where the over-accrual of the amount was caused by the submission of incorrect data by the pensioner.

3. By a court decision, not more than 50% of the assigned pension may be deducted.

Law of Georgia of 4 April 2018 No. 2117 – website, 18.04.2018

Article 20. (Removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012

Article 21. Liability for Violation of the Requirements of the Law🔗

Liability for violation of the requirements of this Law shall be determined by the legislation of Georgia.

Article 22. Preservation of rights acquired before 1 September 2012🔗

1. A pensioner entitled to a pension who, before 1 September 2012, has been assigned any type of monthly monetary benefit funded under the programme codes "Pension Provision" and "Social Protection" of the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year (except for exceptional cases determined by the Government of Georgia), the total amount of which is equal to or exceeds the amount of the monetary benefit determined by the "pension package" established for the respective age group by the Law of Georgia "On the 2012 State Budget of Georgia", shall have the benefits funded under the above codes discontinued, and the payment of the corresponding amount of the same size shall be continued in aggregate, in the form of the monetary benefit of the "pension package", until the ground for termination of the pension provided for by paragraph 1 of Article 17 of this Law arises.

2. A pensioner entitled to a pension who, before 1 September 2012, has been assigned any type of monthly monetary benefit funded under the programme codes "Pension Provision" and "Social Protection" of the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year (except for exceptional cases determined by the Government of Georgia), the total amount of which is less than the amount of the monetary benefit determined by the "pension package" established for the respective age group by the Law of Georgia "On the 2012 State Budget of Georgia", shall have the benefits funded under the above codes discontinued, and his/her "pension package" shall be determined by the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year.

3. A person who, as of 1 September 2012, is not a person entitled to a pension and was a recipient of any type of monthly monetary benefit funded under the programme codes "Pension Provision" and "Social Protection" of the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year (except for exceptional cases determined by the Government of Georgia) shall retain the right to receive the acquired monetary benefit in the same amount in the form of the "social package" determined by the Government of Georgia, until the ground for termination of the pension arises.

4. For the purposes of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, when calculating the total amount of any type of monthly monetary benefit assigned before 1 September 2012 and funded under the programme codes "Pension Provision" and "Social Protection" of the Law of Georgia on the State Budget of Georgia for the respective year (except for exceptional cases determined by the Government of Georgia), account shall also be taken of all benefits (except for exceptional cases determined by the Government of Georgia) the payment of which, as of 1 September 2012, is suspended for not more than 6 months.

Law of Georgia of 14 December 2007 No. 5601 - LHG I, No. 47, 26.12.2007, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 14 March 2008 No. 5869 - LHG I, No. 6, 25.03.2008, Art. 24

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 23. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 5 June 2007 No. 4857 - LHG I, No. 20, 16.06.2007, Art. 173

Law of Georgia of 14 December 2007 No. 5601 - LHG I, No. 47, 26.12.2007, Art. 403

Law of Georgia of 12 June 2012 No. 6443 – website, 22.06.2012.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 24. Transitional regulation of the assignment and payment of pension🔗

1. Before amendments and additions are made to legislative acts, the temporary regulation of matters related to the assignment and payment of the pension provided for by this Law shall be effected by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia.

2. Matters related to the implementation of this Law shall be regulated by a Resolution of the Government of Georgia.

3. If the assignment and payment of a pension is regulated by other legislative acts, the pension shall be assigned only where the conditions established by this Law are satisfied.

Article 24¹. Legalisation of an overpaid pension🔗

1. A pension overpaid before 1 April 2021 shall be considered legalised and shall not be subject to return.

2. Administrative, court and enforcement proceedings in cases concerning the return of a pension legalised by paragraph 1 of this Article shall be terminated.

3. Amounts withheld from a pension before 1 April 2021, as well as amounts paid into the State Budget of Georgia in any other form by a person having the corresponding debt due to the overpayment of a pension, shall not be subject to return.

Law of Georgia of 14 March 2008 No. 5869 - LHG I, No. 6, 25.03.2008, Art. 24

Law of Georgia of 11 November 2011 No. 5253 - website, 16.11.2011.

Law of Georgia of 22 June 2012 No. 6540 – website, 04.07.2012.

Law of Georgia of 1 November 2013 No. 1490 - website, 11.11.2013.

Law of Georgia of 22 December 2016 No. 198 - website, 29.12.2016.

Law of Georgia of 9 June 2021 No. 609 – website, 14.06.2021.

Article 25. Measures to be taken in connection with the entry into force of this Law🔗

The Government of Georgia and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Protection of Georgia shall ensure the adoption/issuance of the legal acts necessary for the entry into force of this Law.

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 26. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 27. (removed)🔗

Law of Georgia of 24 April 2012 No. 6061 – website, 07.05.2012.

Article 28. Invalid normative acts🔗

Upon the entry into force of this Law, the following shall be declared invalid:

a) Law of Georgia of 20 June 2003 "On the introduction of individual (personalised) accounting and individual accounts in the field of compulsory social insurance" (Legislative Herald of Georgia, No 21, 15.07.2003, Art. 142);

b) Law of Georgia of 20 June 2003 "On compulsory insurance pensions" (Legislative Herald of Georgia, No 21, 15.07.2003, Art. 144);

c) Law of Georgia of 20 June 2003 "On compulsory social insurance" (Legislative Herald of Georgia, No 21, 15.07.2003, Art. 143).

Article 29. Entry into force of the Law🔗

This Law shall enter into force on 1 January 2006.

President of Georgia

M. Saakashvili

Tbilisi,

23 December 2005.

No 2442-rs