For The ANSES, Two of Its Areas Have Levels of Error Of Up To 35%; According To the AGN, It Is Almost Double
<p style="text-align:justify">It is the Complex Coordination Procedures, which gives benefits to dock workers and former public employees, and International Agreements Unit, in charge of mediating with other countries. Management accepts a 5% margin of error. There are flaws in the counting of the years of contribution and calculating retroactive, discounts and undue delays in the proceedings.</p>
The annual operating plan of the National Social Security Administration (ANSES) said that the areas of the agency may not exceed 5% error in their work.
But the ANSES itself admitted that two of its offices recorded rates above the shortcomings limit. It is, on the one hand Complex Coordination Procedures, which provides pension benefits in cases that present difficulties for the type of activity (dockers, especially teachers and scientific researchers, judges and staff of the Judicial Power, former employees of the National Public Administration system, among others); and, on the other, the Unit of International Conventions, a kind of mediator in the procedures of foreign workers in the country and Argentines abroad.
Strictly speaking, Management Control of ANSES argues that during the second half of 2007 and the first of 2008, the Coordination Complex Paperwork showed an error rate of 23.9%; while for the Unit of International Conventions that failure rate rose to 35%.
However, there are other numbers that differ from those recognized by the Administration. These data appear as discharge of the ANSES in a report from the General Audit Office (AGN), which states that these error margins reach 40% for Complex Procedures and 53% in international agreements.
Whether or other percentages are taken, the watchdog performances concludes that "far exceed" the limit imposed by ANSES itself in its operating plan.
Errors
In the area of complex procedures, the audit detected failures calculations in registering and retroactive, which are performed manually, "which causes greater chance of error, observing several cases (records) that it failed to consider retroactive different periods.” For example, technicians discovered that the sharing of a pension is not settled "considering that there was a less than the corresponding to the benefit."
Also, "no records evidencing initial payment date taken by the agency (ANSES) to make the calculations were found," said the AGN, which adopted its report this year, adding that "differences in the calculation were also observed the years of contributions.”
In addition, files in Complex Procedures found that "not all records are foliated, in some lack the signatures of those responsible (the area), and the registration procedure of first payments creates confusion," the auditors concluded.
In their defense, ANSES said: "Given the aforementioned controls, we have proceeded to implement procedures to promptly rectify the errors detected."
On the side of international conventions, various criteria were observed to calculate the proportion, which is the proportion of having payed to ANSES by the application of the Law of Retirement and Pension effect in the country. Specifically, the AGN found "similar records whose proportion was calculated differently."
Documentation examined by technicians "does not arise the initial payment date, which is important for calculating be retroactive." They did not include in the calculation of the first benefit, the increased mobility of the last month. When asked by the AGN, the ANSES personnel said "they cannot settle the increase because they do not receive the settlement guidelines on time". However, "they have not been displayed after adjustments made to regularize the situation exposed," said the Watchdog.
Were also detected "deficiencies" in handling information. Specifically, there is "lack of integrity of data in databases, and loading errors in applications." For example, in the National Register of Beneficiary (RUB), the date of withdrawal reaches record up to 15 months after the death of the retired or pensioned.
Among its findings, the audit noted that in the analyzed documents were files in which, instead of settling unpaid salaries, "they proceeded to discount them."
Internal Control
Since September 2006, the ANSES applies an operational monitoring system, called Control Groups and Training, which aim to make periodic measurements to improve the work of the various offices of the agency. The AGN said that since the mechanism is in operation, the Unit of International Conventions "was controlled only opportunity".