In
2020, the Defender continuously received complaints about non-targeted nature
of the compensation of cash deposits invested in the Republican Bank of the
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (herein ASSR) under the USSR Savings Bank.
In
2021, the Government amended the previous decision, raising the age threshold
for receiving compensation for deposits and setting the compensation for cash
deposits made in the former Republican Bank of the ASSR under the USSR Savings
Bank before June 10, 1993, to those born before December 31, 1938, instead of
1936.
It
is, of course, praiseworthy that with the change of the age threshold for the
right to receive compensation for deposits, the scope of the people receiving
compensation for the deposit continued to expand in 2020, but this change did
not solve the issue of the targeting of the beneficiaries.
Complaints
addressed to the Human Rights Defender serve as evidence that the compensation
process of deposits is not entirely satisfactory to citizens. People's
dissatisfaction is due to the fact that the scope of the recipients of
compensation is narrow, and the age threshold for receiving compensation for
deposits is low, as a result, there may be a scope of beneficiaries who will
decease without exercising their right, especially in times of the new
Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Persons entitled to compensation for a deposit
at the Republican Bank of the ASSR under the USSR Savings Bank are at high risk
of developing coronavirus disease.
Moreover,
the right of the depositor to claim compensation is an inalienable right of the
person; it cannot be transferred to another person (except the heirs of the
deceased), be subject to a mortgage, or be included in the inheritance.
The
Human Rights Defender’s analyses demonstrate that the state initially envisaged
a limited scope of socially vulnerable depositors in the process of deposit
compensation, which is not in line with the program's social assistance
principles.
One
of the issues concerns the complicated procedure of deposit compensation; the
decision does not envisage clear interim and final terms for deposit
compensation, which creates additional difficulties in the process. This refers
to situations when, for example, a person applies to a relevant body that
provides social assistance, but decease before the deposit is paid (if the
deposit has not been submitted for payment); taking into account the age of
those eligible for deposit compensation, this is highly likely. In this case,
the property right of the depositor to receive a deposit terminates.
The
issue was most pronounced in 2020 due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic. The process of compensation has been delayed further due to the
epidemic, as evidenced by the complaints addressed to the Human Rights
Defender.
According
to the Human Rights Defender, taking into account the scope of persons entitled
to receive compensation for deposits invested in the Republican Bank of the
ASSR under the USSR Savings Bank (they are mainly the elderly), it is necessary
to simplify the process of deposit compensation, to set terms that are as short
as possible to fully guarantee their right to social assistance.
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