Purchasing Card, forms ready: here’s how to get the monthly contribution and who is entitled to it

From January 1, the forms to request the Purchasing Card have been available on the Mef website, which allows citizens aged 65 and over and parents of children under the age of three to obtain a contribution of 80 euros every two months for food and health expenses and for the payment of electricity and gas bills. This was communicated in a note by the Ministry of the Economy. Contribution recipients can make purchases using an electronic card payment methods at grocery stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, parapharmacies, as well as paying electricity and gas bills at post offices and taking advantage of the reduced electricity rate.

The application for the Purchasing Card (completely free for those entitled), the Mef still recalls, can be presented in the Post Offices by filling in the form on the basis of the requisites required. Those who obtained the Card in previous years and continue to meet the requirements, will be able to take advantage of the benefit without the need for a new request.

The requirements for those over 65 years of age

1. be in possession of Italian citizenship; or the citizenship of a State belonging to the European Union; or family member of an Italian citizen, not a citizen of a member state of the European Union, holder of the right of residence or the right of permanent residence; or family member of an EU citizen, not a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, holder of the right of residence or the right of permanent residence; or foreign citizen in possession of the EC residence permit for long-term residents; or political refugee or holder of a subsidiary position;
2. be a citizen duly registered in the Registry of the Resident Population (municipal Registry);
3. have pension or welfare benefits which, combined with their own income, amount to less than €7,640.18 per year or less than €10,186.91 per year, if aged 70 or over;
4. have a valid ISEE (Indicator of the equivalent economic situation), lower than €7,640.18;
5. not be, alone or together with the spouse indicated in table 4

• owner(s) of more than one domestic electricity user;
• owner(s) of non-domestic electricity users;
• holder(s) of more than one gas user;
• owner(s) of more than one vehicle;
• owner/s, with a share greater than or equal to 25%, of more than one property for residential use;
• owner/s, with a share greater than or equal to 10%, of non-residential properties, including those located outside the territory of the Italian Republic or in cadastral category C7;
• owner(s) of movable assets, as recorded in the ISEE declaration, exceeding €15,000 or, if held abroad and not already indicated in the ISEE declaration, not exceeding the same threshold once converted into Euros at the exchange rate in force on 31 December of the year preceding the presentation of the ISEE declaration.
• not to benefit from meals insured by the State or by other public administrations as a patient in a long-term care institution or a prisoner of confinement.

The requirements for parents of children under 3 years

1. be in possession of Italian citizenship; or the citizenship of a State belonging to the European Union; or family member of an Italian citizen, not a citizen of a member state of the European Union, holder of the right of residence or the right of permanent residence; or family member of an EU citizen, not a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, holder of the right of residence or the right of permanent residence; or foreign citizen in possession of the EC residence permit for long-term residents; or political refugee or holder of a subsidiary position;
2. be a citizen duly registered in the Registry of the Resident Population (municipal Registry);
3. have a valid ISEE (Indicator of the equivalent economic situation), lower than €7,640.18;
4. not be, alone or together with the person exercising parental authority/custody subject and the other person exercising parental authority/custody subject:

• owner(s) of more than one domestic electricity user;
• owner(s) of more than one non-domestic electricity user;
• holder(s) of more than two gas users;
• owner(s) of more than two motor vehicles;
• owner/s, with a share greater than or equal to 25%, of more than one property for residential use;
• owner/s, with a share greater than or equal to 10%, of non-residential properties, including those located outside the territory of the Italian Republic or in cadastral category C7;
• owner(s) of movable assets, as recorded in the ISEE declaration, exceeding €15,000 or, if held abroad and not already indicated in the ISEE declaration, not exceeding the same threshold once converted into Euros at the exchange rate in force on 31 December of the year preceding the presentation of the ISEE declaration.