The President of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, has announced this Tuesday the start-up of a bono to help families with lower incomes in the face of the increase in the cost of the shopping cart, which has strangled the budgets of many households. An initiative with which the Consell hopes to reach half a million beneficiaries
Specifically, the new aid will be articulated through a prepaid card with a balance of 90 euroswhich may request those families with incomes of less than 21,000 euros, as explained by Puig. Money that can be spent on any establishment in the Valencian Community in the food industry, which includes both supermarket and hypermarket chains, as well as small specialized businesses. The establishments should not carry out any management to adhere to the program.
When and how to request help for the shopping cart
Las requests to claim the bonus may be presented from April 18 through a web that has been created specifically for this purpose –https://bonocesta.gva.es-, through a simple form, as indicated by the Ministry of Finance, which will be in charge of carrying out the procedures. Specifically, it will be enough to enter the personal data and make a responsible statement about the level of income and the use that will be given to the money, and it will be the Administrationthrough the Valencian Tax Agency, which will be in charge of verifying that the requirements are met.
For those users with difficulties adapting to digital media or who lack internet, agreements are planned so that consumer associations or NGOs can help request them through this website.
Once the request is approved, the beneficiary will be able to pick up the prepaid card at one of the distribution points that will be set up and that are yet to be defined, although the goal is for them to be as widespread as possible, as indicated by the department that runs Arcady Spain. From then on, you will have four months to spend the money.
The balance can only be invested in establishments of food, although the products purchased will not be controlled in detail. In other words, if a customer also includes a drugstore product in their weekly purchase at the supermarket, they can also pay for it with this card.
The first call of this new aid will be open from April 18 to July 15 and it is calculated that it will benefit some 500,000 people in the autonomy as a whole.
Compatible with the Minimum Vital Income
Puig has framed the implementation of the bonus in the set of measures that the Generalitat has adopted since the outbreak of the War in Ukraine to alleviate the harmful effects of the conflict, which also include the 10% discount on all Consell feesthe free transport for those under 30 years of age and the reduction in the cost of the ticket for the rest of users or the aid that has been given to companies and the self-employed. The initiative will have a budget of 48.4 million euros.
The president has stressed that it is not a “universal” measure but focused on the most vulnerable families, who are the most affected by food rise in the last few months. A rise that in the case of Alicante reaches last February 16.9% year-on-year, according to the INE. The new bonus will be compatible with the Minimum Vital Income, the Valencian inclusion income and the aid of 200 euros from the central government.
In addition, Puig has also highlighted the agreement reached with the main employers in the sector of the supermarkets –Anged and Asucova- and with the employers’ association of the small business Confecomerç to complement this action. Although at first it was considered that the businessmen would finance a part of the bonus, what the chains and small businesses will finally do is donate one million euros in vouchers and food to NGOs and other non-profit entities to distribute them among those families with more needs.
The president of the CEV, Salvador Navarro, has highlighted that this formula is the one allowed by law so as not to affect competition and has highlighted the willingness of businessmen to reach this agreement with the Generalitat. “We are aware that a part of the citizenry needs help to pay for the shopping basket and that is why we are looking for the formula to collaborate and help the most vulnerable families”, Navarro pointed out, during his speech at the event with which the initiative was presented.
In any case, he has specified that the capacity of businessmen is limited: “Our sector is also facing the increase in costs and as a consequence of this the margins are being reduced”, Navarro pointed out.