In 2019, the Ombudsman received 51,313 requests through the various channels available to citizens (6.6% more than in 2018), and 9823 complaint procedures were opened, representing an increase of 5% in relation to 2018. Compared with 2017, the growth in new complaint procedures is 26%; taking 2016 as a reference, the increase is 42%. In 2019, therefore, the activity indicators…
The Ombudsman sent a recommendation that the social water tariff be applied to the first m3 of consumption/month legally provided for consumers who meet the requirements for its benefit, regardless of whether they may exceed this monthly consumption. It is up to municipal councils to set maximum consumption limits on which discounts or exemptions are applied, but not a maximum…
The Ombudsman issued a new communication on how the Tax Authority (TA) is interpreting and applying the rule contained in Decree-Law 10-F/2020, which suspended tax executions until June 30. After exchanging correspondence with the Director General of TA, the Ombudsman now addressed the Secretary of State for Fiscal Affairs, drawing attention to the issues addressed in that correspondence that are…
The services of the Ombudsman’s Office resume face-to-face service on May 18, at normal hours from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., requiring, however, prior appointment by telephone (213926600) or by electronic means (relações.publicas@provedor-jus.pt). Attendance will be provided on an individual basis, being the presence of accompanying persons not permitted, and will take place in compliance with the rules of hygiene…
The Ombudsman sent a recommendation to the Minister of Labour and Solidarity and Social Security suggesting a set of changes to the measure provided for in article 26 of Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020, of 13 March, of extraordinary support for the reduction in the activity of self-employed workers due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus. To read the recommendation, click…
As part of the state of emergency, the Ombudsman sent the Minister of Justice a recommendation on prison establishments. To read the recommendation, click here [in Portuguese only].
At this very serious moment in our collective life, many citizens are wondering about the meaning and scope of the State of Emergency, decreed on the 18th by His Excellency the President of the Republic. The questions, associated with natural feelings of unease and apprehension, are in themselves more than justified. Never before, during the almost forty-four years of the…
The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, sent a recommendation to the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security following the receipt, in the last two years, of more than two and a half hundred complaints on issues related to attribution of the Social Inclusion Benefit (PSI). Created by Decree-Law no. 126-A/2017, of 6 October, the PSI would progressively aggregate a set…
The Ombudsman sent letters to the Presidents of the Governing Councils of the Instituto da Segurança Social and of the Instituto de Informática where Maria Lúcia Amaral draws attention to the urgent need to establish articulation mechanisms in order to solve the “application constraints” that, according to the social security services, will be at the base of several problems in the attribution…
One hundred and half complaints were received about the consequences attributed to the rules contained in Portaria No. 119/2018, May 4, when promoting the repositioning of teachers who entered the career of early childhood educators and teachers of basic and secondary education between 2011 and 2017. The analysis and consequent position of the Ombudsman can be consulted here [in Portuguese…
