Source: According to a report by the French Information Channel on the 12th, the French National Audit Court found that approximately 1.7 million people have repeatedly received "inflation allowances", resulting in the country paying an additional 170 million euros (approximately 1.3 billion yuan).
On October 21, 2021, in the face of soaring energy and fuel prices, then French Prime Minister Jean Castel announced that an "inflation allowance" of 100 euros (approximately 770 yuan) per person would be granted to 38 million people whose monthly after tax income was less than 2000 euros (approximately 15400 yuan). There is a clear principle that each person can only receive one allowance. But the French National Audit Court recently found that approximately 1.7 million beneficiaries have repeatedly received this one-time allowance, and the government mistakenly paid an amount of approximately 170 million euros.
The French National Audit Court stated in its report that these funds are difficult to recover by the state. Although social security institutions are the main payment institutions for "inflation allowances," the law does not stipulate that these institutions can notify and recover improperly paid funds. However, the beneficiary is responsible for repaying the improperly received funds. On the basis of voluntary and spontaneous repayment by beneficiaries, the French General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP) recovered 791500 euros (approximately 6.09 million RMB).
The report explains that this phenomenon is due to some beneficiaries having multiple different identities, such as employees, self-employed individuals, social welfare beneficiaries, etc., receiving more than one "inflation allowance" from different institutions such as companies, employment centers, social security and family allowance collection associations (URSSAF), which do not communicate with each other.
The French National Audit Court stated that although it is too late to correct the mistakes made in the issuance of "inflation allowances", lessons should be learned from them and it is necessary to simplify the process by delegating responsibility for the issuance, verification, and recovery of inappropriate payments to a single national institution, otherwise there is a risk of further wasting public funds.