Elderly persons living in private or public social care homes will receive a € 100 direct contribution by the end of June
81,103 people in Malta and Gozo have digitally downloaded the €100 government vouchers. 72% have done so through the use of their e-ID document and 28% through personal identification. This was announced by the Minister for the Economy and Industry Silvio Schembri, while announcing details of the progress of this €50 million initiative, an investment which seeks to regenerate the economy.
In fact, 93% of those who downloaded their vouchers are Maltese residents while 7% are Gozitans. It was explained how 66% of those who downloaded the vouchers are Maltese citizens while 34% have a valid residence permit. It was noted that 53% of those who downloaded the vouchers are male while 47% are female.
During the presentation, Minister Schembri announced that elderly persons who are residents in social care homes, whether private or public, and will not have downloaded their vouchers online by 4 June, will be receiving €100 in direct contribution by the end of June. These persons will be able to receive the amount through a direct online transaction in their bank account or through a government cheque they receive at Social Care Homes, in the same way they receive their pension. This is being done in collaboration with the Ministry for Social Justice and Solidarity, the Family and Children’s Rights and the Ministry for Senior Citizens and Active Aging.
While commending the public’s positive response to digital vouchers, Minister for the Economy and Industry Silvio Schembri called on and urged all those over the age of 16 to download the online vouchers in the last few remaining days, that is, until midnight on June 4, from website wallet.vouchersmimcol.com.
“We are emphasising the digital economy and the integration of the digital into everyday life”, said the minister. He remarked on how the government used this exercise to introduce the mindset and the incentive for the public to switch to digital. He mentioned that in the first few hours of the announcement of the online voucher system, there were more than 750 e-ID registrations per minute. “This will make it easier for the government when it needs to launch other online services through e-ID, because more people will be registered on the database”, the minister added, while also noting the launch by Prime Minister Robert Abela and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne of the online download of the COVID-19 vaccination certificate today.
He also mentioned how vouchers can be used at eligible businesses from June 7 to September 15. Those who have downloaded the vouchers online will be able to start using them immediately without any delay, as the vouchers will be on their smartphones with easy access whenever required. He outlined more benefits of the online vouchers, including the security of such vouchers and the ease with which one can download them online.
For security reasons, digitally downloaded vouchers cannot be printed, or sent via a screenshot as the valid QR Code expires a few minutes after they are opened.
Those who would have not downloaded the vouchers online will receive the printed vouchers automatically, by registered mail at their residential address from 7 June.
With regard to eligible businesses, he mentioned how those businesses which are yet to apply for the first time to activate their system for accepting vouchers can activate the system by visiting the site vouchersmimcol.com and applying for an ‘activation code’ in the ‘I am a Business’ section.
He also spoke about the transparency and accountability processes that are being used, where for both digital and printed vouchers, the VAT receipt must always be presented in the app, otherwise the transaction will not take place.
Businesses should keep the printed vouchers together with the respective receipt, and in the case of digital vouchers, keep the respective VAT receipt and write the serial number of the respective vouchers on the back. This is found on digital vouchers as they are presented via smartphone.
He also reminded that businesses can now find the promotional material on the vouchersmimcol.com site including labels for businesses that accept vouchers and voucher design for use in promotions launched businesses in relation to the vouchers.
For any kind of assistance:
• the public can contact the consumer helpline at 80074904 / consumers@vouchersmimcol.com
• eligible businesses can contact the business helpline at 80074950 / business@vouchersmimcol.com
Source: Office of the Prime Minister