Score raised and benefit stopped: reassessment and appeal: what to do under Georgian law

What to do

1. Deadlines first: an administrative complaint must be filed within one month of notification (General Administrative Code of Georgia (GAC), Art. 180). It is filed with the body that issued the act (GAC, Art. 178). Consideration takes one month (GAC, Art. 183). A court action must be brought within 1 month of the decision on the complaint, or of the expiry of its consideration period (Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia (APC), Art. 22). A missed deadline for good cause is restored (GAC, Art. 180).
2. In parallel, ask the municipality (gamgeoba) for a petition. If the agent sees “extreme poverty” but the score is above the threshold, an additional assessment is possible on a petition from the local self-government (Order on the Procedure for Assessing the Socio-Economic Condition of Socially Vulnerable Families (Assessment Procedure), Art. 15).
3. Why the score went up: the agent inspects the housing and documents and interviews the family (Assessment Procedure, Art. 3). The score is calculated by the programme from the declaration (Assessment Procedure, Art. 16). Data are cross-checked against the databases of the Revenue Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and others (Methodology for Assessing the Socio-Economic Condition of Socially Vulnerable Families, Art. 1). Look for an error in the declaration.
4. Household composition is a frequent source of error. Members are only those who run a common household (Assessment Procedure, Art. 6). If there is a dispute about a “division”, the agent terminates the assessment by protocol (same, Art. 6). Those who have been abroad for more than 3 months are not members (Assessment Procedure, Art. 7).
5. Other tools: when signing, the family may record its disagreement (Order on the Registration Application Form for the Unified Database of Socially Vulnerable Families (Database Order), Art. 4). Where there are material discrepancies, the declaration is filled in again (Assessment Procedure, Art. 17). At the family's application, a repeat assessment is possible only one year after the declaration (Database Order, Art. 3). A refusal is issued where the information is incomplete or inconsistent with the databases, in writing and with the ways to correct it (Database Order, Art. 6).
6. Risks: false information leads to annulment and a 3-year ban (Assessment Procedure, Art. 4). Changes must be reported within one month (Database Order, Art. 4).
7. Where to apply: the Social Service Agency; the municipality, for a petition for an additional assessment; the court (administrative chamber).
8. Evidence: the decision and the date it was received; a copy of the declaration; documents on the vehicle and property; evidence of separate households.
9. Pitfalls: waiting a year for a repeat assessment and missing the complaint deadline; disputing the “score” rather than the data in the declaration.

Be sure to check

• deadlines: administrative complaint within one month of notification, consideration within one month, then court action within one month
• the score is calculated by the programme from the declaration and state database data, so challenge errors in the data (household composition, property, income)
• municipal petition for an additional assessment; a repeat assessment on application only after one year
• consequences of false information and the duty to report changes