Bylaws on Article 7 of the Law of Targeted Subsidies
Article 1
The following expressions, with the provided definitions, will be used in this bylaw:
A. Law: The Law of Targeted subsidies, legislated in 1388 [2010]
B. Organization: the Organization for Targeting Subsidies.
C. Household Economic Data Site: Electronic system that contains all the personal and economic data of the country, which was formed in 1387 [2009] by the National Statistics Center of Iran in order to identify vulnerable segments of society and determine the groups targeted by article 7 of the Law. In this bylaw, it will be referred to as “site” for short.
D. Economic Information Questionnaire: Questionnaires related to collecting the economic data of households in the country, which will be used for establishing the “site”. In this bylaw, it will be referred to as “questionnaire” for short.
E. Household: Is formed by individuals who live together, based on first-degree family relations, and jointly fill out a single questionnaire.
Clause: An individual who fills out a separate questionnaire, is not dependant on another individual, cannot avoid living alone, and has independent income and expenses, is considered a household.
F. The Method for Determining Who is an Individual: The method whereby the information related to households is obtained; either from the questionnaires filled out by the head of the household directly, or by using the statistical information banks of the country.
G. Receiver of subsidy: Head of household or eligible individual who will be designated for the purpose of receiving the subsidies discussed in this bylaw.
H. Cash payment: Any direct payment of cash funds by the government that is transferred from bank accounts to the receiver of subsidies.
I. Non-cash payment: Any direct assistance from the government to households that is in the form of goods; or is issued via methods like paper or electronic discounts, and coupons, and discounts in the format of special rates for electricity, natural gas, and water.
J. Minor Financial Services: Providing needed investments in the format of a variety of loans and other financial services to targeted groups for instances such as providing for primary needs.
K. Economic Empowerment: To increase the assets and income of households, attain work skills, job stability, income security, and enhance welfare levels of individuals and families.
L. Support Organizations: The Imam Khomeini Assistance Committee [Komite-ye Emdad-e Emam Khomeini], the National Health Organization [Sazeman-e Behzisti-e Keshvar], or other organizations that are active in implementing these laws.
Article 2
The Organization is required to identify the income groups in the country by utilizing evaluation methods for individuals (as well as other methods) from the national information banks and other available resources, in order to complete and update the Site.
Article 3
The Site will be established in the Organization and all the information and resources covered by this article will be categorized and maintained there. Publishing or publicizing individuals’ information is illegal unless in cases allowed by the law. Clause: By request from the Organization, all Executive bodies that are the subject of article 5 of the Law of Management of National Services, and the bodies in charge of related statistical information banks, are required to provide the Organization with information, documents, and evidence needed for implementing the Law.
Article 4
Applicants for subsidies that are the topic of this bylaw are required to provide the information requested by the Organization. This information should be submitted via the methods announced by the Organization, and should be submitted fully and completely and handed to the relevant authorities.
Individuals that present incorrect and incomplete information to the indicated authorities will be considered delinquent and, according to article 10 of the Law, the government is required to stop additional payments, as well as to take the appropriate legal action to recover any funds that have been paid out.
Clause: The Organization may, if needed, implement the proper controls by utilizing statistical information banks of the country, or by conducting field research, to confirm the validity and truthfulness of the provided information.
Article 5
By using the Site, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services is required to categorize the households in the targeted population based on their income levels.
Clause: Income groups eligible for receiving cash and non-cash funds that are the topic of this bylaw will be determined annually by suggestion of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security and approval of the general assembly of the Organization.
Article 6
The proportion of cash payments, non-cash payments, and the comprehensive system of social security, will be proposed by the Organization and approved by the general assembly of the Organization.
Article 7
Cash and non-cash payments to all households in the country will be determined base on article 5 of this bylaw by utilizing the following table:
Eligibility:
| Eligibility | Description |
| 1. Middle- or high-income families | All families who have completed the question-naire for economic data and are applying to receive subsidies, not including families from line 2 of this table. |
| 2. Low-income families | Individuals identified by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, or approved by that ministry |
Clause 1: Low-income households of this article will be determined by the approval of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security according to the following:
A. Vulnerable segments of society under coverage of Support Organizations.
B. Residents of the underprivileged regions of the country.
C. Other segments of society determined to be in need.
Clause 2: At least 6 months after the implementation of the Law, the Organization is required to initiate the process of identifying the high-income households.
Clause 3: The amount of cash and non-cash payments to each recipient of subsidies, categorized as low-income, middle-income, and high-income households (after identification), and in consideration of the 6 person limit per household, will be proposed by the Organization and approved by the general assembly.
Article 8
Cash and non-cash assistance covered by this bylaw will belong to the household. The assistance for each household will be paid out to the legal head of that household, or to the person who is identified according to article 9 of this bylaw.
Article 9
In situations where the head of the household is addicted; imprisoned; or is dead, missing, or mentally unstable; or the absence of the head of the household from the location where the household resides (for example, when living abroad); lack of competence; and individuals who are housed in orphanages and other overnight living shelters and do not have a head of household; the assistance of this bylaw will be paid to another person as determined by the Organization.
Clause: Imprisoned individuals who are considered their own heads of households are exempt from this article and the related assistance will be paid out to their accounts.
Article 10
The Organization is required to pay the subsidies covered by this bylaw via bank accounts.
Clause 1: The Organization has the right to recover funds that were deposited to the accounts of eligible individuals by mistake or as a result of faulty information supplied in the questionnaires.
Clause 2: Funds refunded to the Organization will again become a part of the source for cash payments to households.
Clause 3: The Organization may place amount or time limitations on withdrawing money from the household accounts. It may also manage the manner of depositing the funds by the government to these accounts. Payment of subsidies of this bylaw is dependant on the payee accepting the related conditions and criteria announced by the Organization via various information sources.
Article 11
The part of this bylaw regarding lines of credit for expanding and reinforcing the comprehensive system of social security may be used by the Organization for implementing the following:
A. Health insurance
1. Increasing the services covered by primary care insurance.
2. Increasing services in terms of pharmaceutical coverage and coverage for special and untreatable diseases.
Clause 1: To reach the goal of reducing the payment of healthcare costs by the people, the Organization may withdraw from the resources covered by this bylaw to increase the level of commitment of insurance-providing organizations in subsidizing medical services.
Clause 2: The amount of coverage of the costs of the above, the cost of subsidies, and, if need be, determining the tax rates for private sector medical services, will be approved annually by the general assembly of the Organization upon proposal by the Organization in accordance with approved resources.
B. Public insurance
Assistance for expanding coverage of public insurance by paying part of the insurance premiums of the target populations, as determined by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security.
C. Support and empowerment
1. Providing part of the costs for implementing the project to “Provide for the future of the beloved children of Imam Reza”, covered by legislation 43343 T/164420, dated 18/8/1388 [11/9/2009].
2. Assistance for providing part of the costs related to housing, education of students, and marriage of youngsters for target groups.
3. Assistance for providing housing for outstanding youth (in scientific, cultural, sports, and research arenas).
4. Nutrition for pregnant women and children under 6 years old.
5. Project to expand minor financial services for target groups via the “Imam Reza Kindness Fund” [Sandoogh-e Mehr-e Emam Reza] or banks.
6. Economic empowering of women who are heads of households and independent girls, the handicapped, children released from support centers, and children of welfare recipients.
7. Employment assistance for the youth.
Clause: the Organization, with cooperation from the relevant executive bodies, will decide the amount to be allocated for each section of this article, the maximum amount paid, and the implementation mechanism for each case.
This will be presented to the general assembly of the Organization for approval.
Article 12
In order to prevent redundant payments to those eligible for article 7 of the Law (in terms of the different programs of this bylaw) the limit of payment for the entire year will be proposed by the Organization and approved by its general assembly.
Article 13
The necessary instructions for implementing this bylaw will be drafted and released by the Organization with the cooperation of the relevant executive bodies.
Article 14
The Organization is required to prepare 6-month progress reports on the activities covered by this bylaw and to present them to the cabinet ministers.
This legislation was issued for implementation to the Ministries of Economic and Financial Affairs, and Welfare and Social Security; and the Secretariat for planning and application monitoring of the presidency via letter number 28610/44520, dated 11/2/1389 [5/1/2011].