Joint circular No. 29 /2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC dated October 24, 2014, implementing several articles of Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP on adopting social assistance policies for social support beneficiaries

• Official number: 29/2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC
• Legislation Type: Joint circular
• Organization: The Ministry of Finance, Bộ Lao động - Thương binh và Xã hội
• Signer: Truong Chi Trung, Nguyen Trong Dam
• Issued Date: 24/10/2014

THE MINISTRY OF LABOR, WAR INVALIDS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS – THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE --------	THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ---------------
No. 29 /2014/TTLT-BLDTBXH-BTC	Hanoi, October 24, 2014

JOINT CIRCULAR

IMPLEMENTING SEVERAL ARTICLES OF THE GOVERNMENT'S DECREE NO. 136/2013/ND-CP DATED OCTOBER 21, 2013 ON ADOPTING SOCIAL ASSISTANCE POLICIES FOR SOCIAL SUPPORT BENEFICIARIES

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 106/2012/ND-CP dated December 20, 2012 on defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree 215/2013/ND-CP dated December 23, 2013 on defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 06/2011/ND-CP dated January 14, 2011 on providing instructions on the implementation of several articles of the Law on the elderly;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 28/2012/ND-CP dated April 10, 2012 on providing instructions on the implementation of several articles of the Law on the handicapped;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP dated October 21, 2013 on adopting social assistance policies for social support beneficiaries;

Upon implementing the Government’s Resolution No. 74/NQ-CP dated October 04, 2014 on the government’s regular meeting held in September 2014;

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Article 1. Scope of application and applicable entities

1. Scope of application: This Joint Circular shall provide guidance on procedures that those who are benefited from social assistance policies must follow to apply for the change in benefit rates and payment coefficients; assistance regime for target beneficiaries of emergency support programs who are looked after, and incentives to trainers who train caregivers of beneficiaries of social assistance policies at a community; application form and expenditures for implementation of social assistance policies; work description and payment amount for the work of managing target beneficiaries; payment for expenses incurred from the implementation of social assistance policies and assumption of responsibilities of relevant agencies.

2. Applicable entities: This Circular shall be applied to regulatory bodies, agencies, organizations, households and individuals who use state expenditures for implementing social assistance policies for social support beneficiaries.

Article 2. Procedures for the change in benefit rates and payment coefficients at which the beneficiaries, stipulated in Article 40 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP, shall be eligible to receive

1. Procedures for the change in monthly benefit rates and payment coefficients shall be specified as follows:

a) Public servants in charge of labor, war invalids and social affairs at regulatory agencies of a commune must monthly compile a comprehensive list of the beneficiaries currently entitled to social welfare in that area and provide instructions for the beneficiaries subject to changes in monthly benefit rates and payment coefficients in accordance with regulations laid down in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP, or are required to make amendment to the Application form for social assistance policies according to the form given in Clause 1 Article 5 hereof;

b) The Council for Social Assistance Approval shall examine, consider and arrive at their conclusion enclosed with the list of the beneficiaries subject to changes in benefit rates and payment coefficients in accordance with regulations enshrined in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP;

c) After receiving the written conclusion from the Council for Social Assistance Approval, the President of the People’s Committee of a commune must enclose the written Request with the above-mentioned list and the Application form for social assistance filed by these beneficiaries for submission to the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

d) The Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall verify that submitted dossier and then submit it the President of the People's Committee of a district with the aim of obtaining his/her decision.

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Article 3. Supportive policies for the beneficiaries of emergency protection who are temporarily looked after at family households in accordance with provisions laid down in Clause 2 Article 18 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP

1. Meal expense: VND 40,000/person/day.

2. Medical cost in the event of taking medical treatment at healthcare service centers without holding health insurance cards shall be covered by support policies in the following cases:

a) Children aged under 6 years; persons who are living below the poverty line or in near poverty; ethnic people who are living in areas facing socio-economic difficulties or extreme difficulties; persons, who are entitled to policies stipulated by the law on incentives for those awarded for meritorious service in the revolutionary period, shall have their medical costs funded by medical care supports at the rate equal to the rate that health insurance fund pays to respective beneficiaries;

b) Persons, other than those specified in Point a of this Article, who are living without any relatives shall have their medical cost covered at the rate equal to the rate paid by the health insurance policies to beneficiaries living in poverty.

3. Expenses incurred by transportation of these beneficiaries to available shelters, social support centers or social houses: The payment for such transportation fee shall be the same as the payment for common transportation fee currently applicable at localities. In case of making use of means of transport owned by regulatory agencies or units, expenses incurred shall be calculated by the number of kilometers and actual fuel consumption; in case of hiring vehicles from outside, the vehicle rental shall be agreed in the actual contracts, vouchers and invoices as well as correspond to the rental price currently applied in specific areas for the same period.

Article 4. Training for caregivers who look after social support beneficiaries at communities

1. Households and individuals who provide caregiving services to social protection beneficiaries shall be trained to improve their expertise in looking after such beneficiaries as follows:

a) Proper diet plans;

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c) Giving advice, metal or conducting assessment of mental or physical health status;

d) Relevant policies and laws;

dd) Other necessary professional skills.

2. The Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be responsible for implementing provisions enshrined in this Clause hereof.

Article 5. Package of documents required to apply for social support policies

Issued together with this Joint Circular is a set of documents required to apply for social support policies such as:

1. Application form for social support policies according to the form No. 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1dd;

2. Application form for caregiving according to the Form No.2;

3. Statement on the disabled living in family households according to the Form No.3;

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5. List of needy family households and members according to the Form No. 5a and 5b;

6. Petition for support in funeral costs according to the Form No.6;

7. Written request for support in accommodations according to the Form No.7;

8. Application form for admission to social support centers and establishments according to the Form No.8;

9. Curriculum vitae of potential beneficiaries according to the Form No.9;

10. Minutes of the Council for Social Assistance Approval according to the Form No.10;

11. Data summary report used for the purpose of state management according to the form No. 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d.

Article 6. Current expenditures on implementation of social support policies

1. Expenditures on monthly benefits paid to social support beneficiaries eligible for such benefits, and supportive budget for households and individuals who take care of these beneficiaries at communities shall be accounted for in the spending estimate for social security programs according to local government's decentralized budget.

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a) With regard to public social support centers and social houses at a specific level of regulatory authority, the equivalent budget shall be used to ensure the sufficient payment for expenses recorded in the spending estimate for social security programs;

b) With regard to non-public social support centers and social houses, the provincial government’s budget shall be used to ensure the sufficient payment for expenses recorded in the spending estimate for social security programs;

3. If budget for activities relating to policy propagation, communication, potential beneficiary consideration and approval, application of information technology advances, management of intended beneficiaries, organization of refresher courses for the purpose of improving professional skills for social officers, family households or individuals being caregivers of these beneficiaries at communities as well as inspection and supervision of affiliates are funded by a competent authority at a specific administrative level, that authority must manage its spending in order to ensure sufficient expenditures recorded in the spending estimate for social security programs in accordance with regulations laid down in the Law on State Budget and other guiding documents on implementation of this Law.

4. Current expenditures on implementation of social support policies shall be set, allocated, used, managed and accounted for in accordance with regulations enshrined in the Law on the State Budget, the Law on Accounting, guiding documents on implementation of this Law and specific regulations laid down in this Joint Circular. Especially in 2015, the central budget shall be additionally allocated to local government budget as follows:

- 100% of additional budget shall be allocated to localities that have yet to independently balance its own budget and Quang Ngai province.

- 50% of additional budget shall be provided to localities that pay below 50% of their revenues back to the central budget.

- With regard to those that use local government budget for implementation of a part or the whole of social support policies, if any deficit attributed to unexpected events or a low increase in revenues still pertains after using 50% of the increased number of local government budget (if any) and 50% of reserve fund for local government budget according to the Prime Minister’s budget estimate, the central budget shall make up for such deficit.

- With regard to other localities, local government budget shall cover these expenditures.

The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall submit the additional budget estimate in 2015 which is resulted from the adjustment to social support rates in accordance with the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP applicable to beneficiaries regulated in Clause 1 and 3 Article 11 hereof to the Department of Finance for their consideration and for submission to the President of the People’s Committee for approval and submission to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance for submission to competent regulatory bodies to serve the purpose of deciding on an increase in the estimated expenditures as stipulated by laws on the state budget.

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1. People’s Committees of communes shall be entitled to manage the followings

a) Expenditures on stationery items; print templates; purchase of books, notebooks and materials used for managerial activities. Actual payments shall be based on the budget estimate approved by the competent authority;

b) Expenditures on the meeting of the Council for Social Assistance Approval:

- Chairperson of the Council: VND 70,000/person/meeting;

- Members of the Council: VND 50,000/person/meeting;

- Drinking water for participants. Payment amount shall conform to the regulations laid down in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance No. 97/2010/TT-BTC dated July 06, 2010 on providing regulations on work-related travel expenses and expenditures on organization of meetings, applied to regulatory agencies and public non-business organizations (hereinafter referred to as the Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC);

c) Payments to individuals who directly pay social benefits to beneficiaries (if competent authorities authorize them to pay monthly social benefits recorded in the budget estimate of such communes) shall conform to regulations laid down in Article c, Clause 2 of this Article;

d) Payments for propagation and communication of social assistance policies to the population. Contents and payment amounts shall conform to regulations set forth in the Joint Circular No. 14/2014/TTLT-BTC-BTP dated January 27, 2014 issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice on providing for formulation of the budget estimate, management, utilization and financial reporting of state expenditures used for the purpose of providing sufficient expenditures on legal propagation, education and accepted standards for approach to laws towards the population at living at these communes.

2. The Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be entitled to manage the followings:

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b) Payments for review and assessment of documents that must be filed to apply for social support or assistance policies; application for admission to social support establishments or centers managed under the delegated authority of a district. Payment amount shall be VND 20,000/set of application documents;

c) Payments for remuneration paid to persons who directly pay social benefits. Payments for such remuneration shall be VND 500,000/person/month and shall be sufficient for a maximum of 02 persons/commune, ward and town. The President of the People’s Committee of communes shall pay attention to the number of beneficiaries and geographical conditions of each commune, ward or town to decide on the number of persons in charge of social benefit payment task;

d) Expenditures on payment service charges, if payment for social benefits is carried out through the remittance and payment service organizations. Payment amount shall adhere to the decision granted by the President of provincial People's Committee;

dd) Payments for training of professional skills for family households and individuals acting as caregivers of social support beneficiaries at communities. Contents and payment amounts shall conform to regulations laid down in the Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC;

e) Payments for investigation, review and reporting of statistical data or figures on beneficiaries under the decision of competent authorities as stipulated in Clause 2, 3 and 4 Article 10 of the Government's Decree No. 40/2004/ND-CP dated February 13, 2004 on providing instructions on the implementation of several articles of the Law on Statistics. Contents and payment amounts shall conform to regulations laid down in the Ministry of Finance’s Circular No. 58/2011/TT-BTC dated May 11, 2011 on providing for management, utilization and financial reporting of expenditures on conduct of statistical investigations;

g) Payments for purchase and repair of assets, equipment and facilities used for the administration of payments and beneficiaries. Payment amounts must correspond to demands and budget estimate approved by competent authorities as well as adhere to the bidding law;

h) Payments for support in application of information technology advances used for the administration of application files, beneficiaries and payments for social benefits to these beneficiaries. Contents and payment amounts must conform to regulations set forth in the Joint Circular of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Information and Communications No. 19/2012/TTLT-BTC-BKH&DT-BTTTT dated February 15, 2012 on providing guidance on management and utilization of expenditures on implementation of national program for application of information technology advances to activities of regulatory agencies, and the Circular of the Ministry of Finance No. 194/2012/TT-BTC dated November 15, 2012 on providing payment amounts for establishment of electronic information in order to maintain the regular operations of agencies or units funded by the state budget;

i) Payments for petrol and communication costs. The payment amount shall be based on valid invoices or vouchers;

k) Payments for other outsourcing costs for the purpose of assisting in the administration of payments and beneficiaries. The payment amount shall be based on binding contracts, receipts or invoices (in the event of rental services);

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m) Payments for social support policy propagation towards social officers in accordance with regulations laid down at Point d, Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be entitled to manage the followings:

a) Expenditures on stationery items; print template, reports, training materials and relevant legal Documents. Actual payments shall be based on the budget estimate approved by the competent authority;

b) Payments for review and assessment of documents filed to apply for admission to social support centers managed by a provincial authority. Payment amount shall be VND 20,000 per each;

c) Payments for expenses stipulated at Point e, g, h, i, l and m Clause 2 of this Article;

d) Payments for policy communication activities through mass media in accordance with the budget estimate approved by the relevant competent authority. The payment amount shall be agreed in the contract between communication and mass media agencies, and conform to the bidding law;

dd) Payments for arrangements for refresher courses, preliminary and final conferences. Contents and payment amounts must conform to regulations set forth in the Circular No. 97/2010/TT-BTC and the Circular No. 139/2010/TT-BTC dated September 21, 2010 promulgated by the Ministry of Finance on providing for formulation of budget estimate, management and utilization of state expenditures used for funding training and enhancement of professional skills for officials or public servants.

4. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be entitled to manage the followings:

a) Expenditures on stationery items; print reports, materials used for training and propagation of policies and relevant legal documents. Actual payments shall be based on the budget estimate approved by the competent authority;

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Article 8. Conduct of payment for social benefits

1. Social benefits shall be paid directly on the monthly basis to beneficiaries through one of the following agencies or organizations:

a) The Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, or the People’s Committee of communes;

b) Remittance and payment service providers.

2. The President of the provincial People’s Committee shall decide on the payment method which is orientated towards transformation of state-run benefit payment services to privately-run payment services provided that it is suitable for current conditions of each locality.

3. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall preside over and cooperate with the Department of Finance in conducting assessment of actual conditions of localities; selecting remittance and payment service providers who run the network of transaction points throughout communes, wards or towns, and are able to pay social benefits to certain particular beneficiaries at home; request the President of the provincial People's Committee to decide on the payment for social benefits through payment and remittance service providers located at these localities, payment itinerary, locations, payment service charges, and responsibilities of relevant agencies.

Article 9. Process for payment through remittance and payment service providers

1. Given the Decision granted by the President of the provincial People’s Committee, the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall be delegated by competent authorities that allocate estimated state expenditures on social assistance policies to exercise the right to enter into the contract to pay social benefits with remittance and payment service providers at district's administrative level. The contents of such contract must clarify rights and responsibilities of each contracting party; procedure for remittance and contract settlement; payment process, venue and schedule as well as payment service charges. The conclusion and execution of such contract and handling of disputes over the payment for social benefits shall be carried out in accordance with regulations laid down in the Civil Code and other relevant guiding documents.

2. Remittance of social benefit payments

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b) The Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall refer to the list of beneficiaries (including those who will receive increased or decreased amount of social benefits compared to the preceding month) and total monthly expenditures paid under social assistance policies (inclusive of sums that beneficiaries must retrospectively receive and funeral costs paid to these beneficiaries) to withdraw estimated amount of money at the State Treasury, issue payment orders to remit benefit payments to these payment and remittance service providers and transfer the list of benefit payments to these providers as well.

3. Venue and schedule of payment for social benefits

a) Venue for social benefit payment shall be at transaction points located at communes, wards and towns or at residences of the very severely or severely disabled persons, or the elderly who do not have any person acting as their recipients of social benefits;

b) Social benefit payment shall be scheduled to start on the 5^th day and end on the 15^th day every month.

4. Procedure for social benefit payment

a) Given the list of monthly payment amounts provided by the Office for Labor, War invalids and Social Affairs, the remittance and payment service providers shall compile the list of social benefit amounts paid to family households at the nearest transaction points (for recipient's convenience) and send the list of beneficiaries to the transaction points at communes, wards or towns assigned to make such payment;

b) Transaction points shall make payment and require money recipients or authorized persons to append their signatures, write full names in the list of payments; simultaneously, the officers in charge of such payments shall be requested to sign in the logbook recording details of those who have already received the social benefit payments. In case money recipients are incapable of writing signatures, fingerprints shall be appended instead. In case family households do not come to receive social benefits or when there is no recipient at home on the payment date, officers in charge of remitting benefit payments shall return such unpaid sums to remittance service providers in order to resume making payment in the subsequent month;

c) In case there is no recipient of benefit sums in 2 consecutive months, officers in charge of remitting benefit payments shall cooperate with the People's Committee of communes to find out the reasons for this absence. In case beneficiaries being recipients are dead, gone missing or moved away from their residence, payment and remittance serve providers shall be responsible for notifying the People’s Committee of a commune and the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in order to follow statutory procedures for withholding or suspending social benefit payments.

5. Reports and financial statements

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b) On the quarterly basis, payment and remittance service providers shall send documentary evidences (inclusive of the list enclosing their full signatures) about paid amounts and gradually pay back unpaid amounts (applicable to the 4^th Quarter) to the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. This shall then serve as the basis for making financial statements on state budget.

Article 10. Responsibilities of regulatory agencies

1. The People’s Committee of a commune

a) Establish the Council for Social Assistance Approval;

b) Manage social support beneficiaries within their delegated authority;

c) Update the list of social support beneficiaries on the monthly basis (in case of any change, supplementation to or decrease in the number of beneficiaries which may be caused by death or ineligibility) and submit this list to the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs with the aim of requesting the President of the People's Committee of a district to grant his/her decision;

d) Make and compile periodic reports on implementation of social assistance policies throughout communes and attach the datasheet prepared according to the form 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d issued together with this Joint Circular for submission to the Office for Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the People's Committee of a district before June 15 and December 15 every year;

dd) Take control of activities of social support establishments and centers as well as set up partnership with these centers and establishments located at these communes in all relevant activities;

e) As regards assistance policies on emergency cases: Compile the list and work towards timely support, right beneficiaries, assist them in mitigating natural disasters and stabilizing their production and lives.

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a) Manage social support beneficiaries within their delegated authority by means of files, records or computer softwares;

b) Guide, arrange to implement, inspect and supervise local authorities of communes in the determination and management of social support beneficiaries; implement social assistance policies within their delegated authority;

c) Prepare annual budget estimate for payment of monthly social benefits; emergency benefits; for expenditures on managerial activities for submission to the Finance Office for the purpose of making a general report which shall be then submitted to the President of the People's Committee of a district as well as recording current or emergency expenses into the accounting report in accordance with applicable laws;

d) With regard to localities that pay social benefits through payment and remittance service providers, send the list of benefit payments to these providers on the monthly basis; guide, inspect and supervise these providers in terms of their payment activities;

dd) Make and compile periodic reports on implementation of social assistance policies within their delegated authority and attach the datasheet prepared according to the form 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d issued together with this Joint Circular for submission to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the People's Committee of a district before June 30 and December 31 every year;

e) Manage social support centers and social houses established under the decision granted by the regulatory authority of a district.

3. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs

a) Preside over, cooperate with the Department of Finance in conducting assessment of specific conditions of the locality under their management and capability of balancing local government budget, and formulate amounts of social and care assistance payment, rates at which expenditures on caregiving services may be supported and other social benefits, all of which must be greater than the corresponding amounts stipulated in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP, in order to serve the purpose of requesting the provincial People's Committee to bring it into effect;

b) Provide guidance on, arrange to implement, inspect and monitor the implementation of social assistance policies in the area;

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d) In case natural disasters and fires affect a large area and cause serious damage or loss, but the expenditure amount stipulated in Clause 1 Article 35 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP is too insufficient to pay emergency support benefits, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall preside over, cooperate with the Department of Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development in preparing the executive report for submission to the President of the provincial People’s Committee which serves as the basis for the reporting of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to the Prime Minister for his consideration and decision on support for food and expenditures allocated from the central budget;

dd) Make and compile periodic reports on implementation of social assistance policies within their delegated authority and attach the datasheet prepared according to the form 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d issued together with this Joint Circular for submission to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the provincial People's Committee before January 15 and July 15 every year;

e) Manage social support centers and social houses established under the decision granted by the regulatory authority of a province;

g) Apply information technology to the management of social support beneficiaries at the administrative level of a province and district; establish database, collect and send XML-formatted information about intended beneficiaries to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (the Ministry’s website) on the periodic or unscheduled basis.

4. The Department of Finance

a) Cooperate with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in conducting assessment of specific conditions of the locality under their management and capability of balancing local government budget, and formulate amounts of social and care assistance payment, rates at which expenditures on caregiving services may be supported and other social benefits, all of which must be greater than the corresponding amounts stipulated in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP, in order to serve the purpose of requesting the provincial People's Committee to bring it into effect;

b) Report the general estimate of expenditures on implementation of social assistance policies for social support beneficiaries within their delegated authority into the local government budget, and request the competent authority to grant the decision in accordance with regulations enshrined in the Law on State Budget and relevant guiding documents.

5. Payment and remittance service providers shall be responsible for policy implementation as stipulated in Article 9 hereof. In case there is any monetary loss in the course of making benefit payment or making incorrect payment, payment and remittance service providers shall be held accountable to reimburse beneficiaries or contracting agencies for the lost amount as well as assume their legal responsibility.

Article 11. Transitional provisions

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a) Those stipulated in Clause 1, 2, 3 and 4 Article 5 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP;

b) Those stipulated at Point a, c Clause 5 Article 5 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP;

c) Those stipulated at Point b Clause 5 and those stipulated in Clause 6 Article 5 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP, all of whom are classified into the poor households.

2. Social assistance programs other than monthly social assistance policies for beneficiaries stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article must conform to the regulations that take effect from the pre-introduction of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP to the issuance of statutory documents on bringing the equivalent rate and coefficient of benefit payments stipulated in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP into effect.

3. Beneficiaries who live in social support centers and social houses, as stipulated in Article 25 of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP shall be entitled to social support policies and benefits in accordance with regulations laid down in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP as from January 1, 2015.

4. Regular beneficiaries who are not specified in Clause 1 of this Article, those entitled to social emergency supports and others shall continue to be granted social benefits in accordance with the regulations that take effect from the pre-introduction of the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP to the issuance of statutory documents on bringing the equivalent rate and coefficient of benefit payments stipulated in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP into effect, and shall not be required to repeat their filing of applications.

5. As from January 1, 2015, procedures and documents that must be submitted to apply for social assistance policies on the regular, emergency basis and others must conform to provisions enshrined in the Decree No. 136/2013/ND-CP and this Joint Circular. Where beneficiaries have submitted their application before January 1, 2015 but there has not been any decision granted yet, potential beneficiaries who apply for social assistance policies shall not be required to file another application (except for the case in which applicants are required to provide additional documents in accordance with legal regulations).

Article 12. Effect

1. This Joint Circular shall come into force as from January 1, 2015.

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3. In case documents mentioned in this Circular are adjusted, modified or replaced, the new version of documents shall be brought into effect instead.

4. In course of implementation, if there is any difficulty that may arise, Ministries, regulatory departments and local authorities shall be requested to timely consult with the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of conducting proper researches and finding possible solutions./.

PP. THE MINISTER OF FINANCE
THE DEPUTY MINISTER




Truong Chi Trung

PP. THE MINISTER OF LABOR, WAR INVALIDS AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS
THE DEPUTY MINISTER



Nguyen Trong Dam