Bucharest cuts benefits for people with disabilities, mothers and newborns

The General Council of Bucharest Municipality approved on Friday, through a secret ballot, at the proposal of Mayor General Ciprian Ciucu, a series of measures by which several social benefits granted to persons with disabilities, pregnant women, and mothers will be reduced or eliminated.

The incentive for adults with disabilities suspended until 2030

The councillors voted to suspend the granting of new entitlements under the monthly 500 RON incentive scheme for the approximately 52,000 adults with disabilities in Bucharest. The City Hall has payment arrears of around 25 months, with accumulated outstanding debts approaching 700 million RON. According to the Mayor General, approximately 10,000 new beneficiaries enrol in the programme each year, and the capital's budget can no longer sustain the accumulation of new obligations.

The existing arrears will not be cancelled. Beneficiaries already enrolled will receive 250 RON per month towards the settlement of amounts owed, whilst the granting of new entitlements is suspended until 1 November 2030. Ciprian Ciucu estimated that the last outstanding instalment will be paid in October 2030.

"From now on, we commit to paying this money month by month. And at the moment the last instalment is paid — which I have calculated will be in October 2030 — the decision will automatically be unsuspended and will proceed accordingly. I ask that we suspend its applicability so that we no longer receive new applications, because we cannot cope with them. And I pledge before the people, before those to whom we owe this money, that every month we will make these payments. Until now they have not been paid every month, because we simply did not have the means," said Ciprian Ciucu.

The proposal was adopted with 28 votes in favour and four against.

Differentiated amounts for children with disabilities

The incentive granted to children with disabilities was also amended. Previously, children classified as having severe, pronounced, or moderate disabilities received 1,000 RON per month, regardless of their grade.

From now on, the 1,000 RON amount is retained only for children with severe disabilities. For those with pronounced disabilities, the incentive is reduced to 800 RON, and for those classified as moderate, to 400 RON.

Ciprian Ciucu argued during the session that the differentiation allows funds to be redirected "from children with flat feet to children suffering from cancer." The proposal was adopted with 30 votes in favour and two against.

The Materna Voucher is discontinued, newborn assistance is scaled back

The CGMB decided to eliminate the Voucher Materna programme, through which pregnant women over 18 years of age received 2,000 RON, in two instalments, for medicines and medical services related to pregnancy. The support was granted without means-testing and generated annual expenditure of approximately 24 million RON. The programme was eliminated with 29 votes in favour and four against.

The newborn incentive was also amended: the value is reduced from 2,500 to 2,000 RON, and the benefit will no longer be granted to all families in Bucharest.

The following will be eligible: mothers from families receiving the minimum inclusion income, mothers with disabilities, those in critical or vulnerable circumstances — including victims of domestic violence or natural disasters —, minor mothers, and women with foreign citizenship or stateless women coming from areas of armed conflict.

The decision also introduces the condition that both parents must have been registered as residents in Bucharest for at least 12 consecutive months, and that neither of them has outstanding and unscheduled local debts.