Muscat: The beneficiaries under the Social Protection Law will have amounts credited to their accounts from January 18, provided they have registered for the same before January 10. Beneficiaries registered later during the same month will receive the benefit at the end of the month.
Based on Article 3 of the Executive Regulations of the Social Protection Law, the disbursement shall be retroactive for a maximum period of three months, provided that the conditions for entitlement to the benefit are met.
More than 1,153,000 people have registered for social protection benefits as of January 4, 2024.
It may be noted that Article 30 states that a monthly amount of RO115 will be disbursed to the elderly starting from the month of reaching 60 years of age if the person fulfills the following conditions - must be Omani, must have reached the age of the elderly, and must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
As per Article 37, the childhood benefit will be payable at the rate of RO10 per month for each child if the conditions are met - must be Omani, must not have reached 18 years of age, and must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
The law also specifies regulations to avail the benefit for orphans and widows and the amount of the benefit if there is more than one orphan or widow, and the death of both or one of the parents.
Conditions required to be eligible for the orphans’ benefit include that the orphans must be Omani, one or both parents must be orphans, the father or parents are unknown and are considered orphans, The age of the orphan must not exceed 18 years, and must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
Article 35 states conditions required to be eligible for the widows’ benefit are the widow must be an Omani, must not have reached the age of the elderly, and must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman by the provisions of Article (8) of this law.
The entitlement to the widows' benefit stops after marriage, and it is not redisbursed except in the event of widowhood again. Article (36) states that it is permissible to combine the benefits for orphans and widows and all benefits and pensions except for the benefit for the elderly so that the disbursement of the widow’s benefit is stopped for the widow when she is entitled to the benefit for the elderly.
Persons with disabilities
Article 31 states that benefit persons with disabilities are entitled to RO130 per month if the person meets the following conditions - must be Omani, must have a permanent disability or a permanent illness that requires care or support as specified in the regulations, and must be a resident of the Sultanate of Oman.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Development said that the total number of individuals benefiting from the social security scheme stood at 123,491. The ministry pointed out that 67,693 beneficiaries of the social security scheme received a sum of RO 72,350,109 by the end of the first half of 2023.
The ministry explained that 44 beneficiaries registered in the social security scheme received RO 29,352 as disaster assistance by the end of the first half of 2023, while 140 “People with Limited Income” received RO 158,132 as disaster assistance during the first half of 2023.
During the same period, a total number of 10,023 social security scheme beneficiaries received ‘temporary’, ‘emergency’ and ‘special’ cash assistance to the tune of RO 925,549.
Similarly, a total of 820,693 “People with Limited Income” received RO 640,528 as ‘temporary’, ‘emergency’ and ‘special’ cash assistance.
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