Muscat: The online registration for the Family Income Support Benefit will begin on October 20 through the Social Protection Fund electronic portal.
The program provides monthly financial support to families with lower incomes and fewer opportunities to earn. The entitlement depends on the family’s income level and the ability of its members to earn. The target benefit value is linked to the number of family members and the family's gross income. The benefit aims to improve the living conditions of these families.
The family includes the husband, wife, and non-working children up to the age of 26, and non-working daughters who have not reached the age of 40 if they are unmarried or divorced and do not have children.
Applicants have been urged to provide documents and attach them to the electronic system when applying, which include the statement of all bank accounts for all eligible family members for 6 months, even if multiple for one person, make sure you are eligible for the benefit before extracting the account statement. Prisoners’ families must submit a copy of the court ruling or an official certificate of the ruling while abandoned families must provide an official document proving the abandonment status of the head of the household.
A divorced woman with children must provide an official document of custody and proof of alimony, if any.
Applications submitted without attachments will not be accepted.
As per the Socal Protect Law issued by Royal Decree 52/2023, Article 39 states that to be eligible for the Family Income Support Benefit
following conditions must be met, which include the family must be residing in the Sultanate of Oman.
One of the family members is Omani, except the non-Omani widow of an Omani who does not have Omani children, provided that she resides in the Sultanate of Oman continuously after the death of her Omani husband, in the manner specified in the regulations.
The total family income must be less than the level specified under the provisions of Article 40 of this law.
The regulation specifies the controls for disbursing the family income support benefit, the categories and cases eligible for it, the cases in which it is suspended, and the conditions for resuming its disbursement.
Article 40 states that the target value of the family income support benefit is RO115 for a family of one person, and this value is multiplied by the square root of the number of family members to determine the target value for a family with more than one member.
Any person who takes care of an elderly person or a person with a disability who requires care is considered as two individuals when calculating the target value, and the regulation specifies the mechanism for proving the provision of care.
The Family Income Support Benefit Branch shall bear the difference between the family’s target value and any other income the family receives under the provisions of Article 42 of this Law.
The family income support benefit is paid monthly.
Article 41 states that the family in the application of the family income support benefit includes the husband, wife, and non-working children up to the age of twenty-six, and non-working daughters who have not reached the age of forty if they are unmarried or divorced and have no children. Adopted children are considered as children in the formation of the family.
Any of the following cases is also considered to be family law:
A divorced woman who has no children and is 40 years of age or older, an unmarried woman who is 40 of age or older, a widow, a divorced woman who has children, and other cases specified in the regulations.
Article 42: The regulation shall specify the mechanism for calculating family income to determine eligibility for the family income benefit, provided that it includes the sources of income included and not included in the calculation, the types of assets and their income, and the expenses related to operating those assets that can be deducted, the mechanisms for calculating the hypothetical income from those assets and the income equivalent to the ability to work, and any assets or income excluded when calculating income.
Article 43: To decide on a request to disburse the family income support benefit, the Fund may address any governmental or private entity – including the Central Bank of Oman – to disclose the income or property of the benefit applicant, and those entities must disclose the income or property of the benefit applicant.
Article 44: The Ministry of Social Development shall, upon the request of the Fund, conduct the necessary social research for applicants for the family income support benefit, under the terms and conditions outlined in the regulations.
Article 45 states that it is permissible to combine the family income support benefit with all benefits, entitlements, pensions, allowances, and compensations.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
