Cabinet approved amendment to India and the Netherlands Social Security Agreement

Cabinet approved MoU between India, Portugal on governance reforms

Question: India has entered into a social security agreement with … countries.
(a) 18
(b) 10
(c) 25
(d) 30
Ans:(a)

  • On June 22, 2017, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Amendment to the bilateral Social Security Agreement (SSA) between India and the Netherlands by incorporating the “Country of Residence” Principle into the agreement.
  • The amended SSA will be operational from the third month from the date of notification to the Netherlands by India and will strengthen the ties between the two countries.
  • The SSA has been in successful operation since June 2010 and has benefitted Indian expatriates who have been working in the Netherlands.
  • About the Agreement:
  • Beginning 1st January 2013, the Netherlands introduced new rules on export of social security benefits to countries outside the European Union.
  • Under the new Social Security (Country of Residence) Act, the amount of benefit or allowance paid to a qualified beneficiary (read as Dutch national) is adjusted to the cost of living of the country where the beneficiary is currently residing.
  • As per the new Dutch legislation, social security benefits when exported or remitted would be indexed to the cost of living of the host country (as reflected in the World Bank figures), where the Dutch citizen resides.
  • The new Dutch legislation, in ordinary circumstances, has no implications for the Indian worker working in the Netherlands because it is applicable only to Dutch nationals residing outside the EU except for a very few exceptional cases.
  • The Indian posted workers would largely continue to get benefits as per the existing India-Netherlands Social Security Agreement.
  • However, the circumstances where the “country of residence” principle will apply to a few instances of Indian nationals include the following:
  • An Indian worker who dies in the Netherlands and has his/her spouse and children living in India.
  • An Indian worker who gets disabled while working in the Netherlands and returns to India.
  • Notably, the Netherlands introduced a new social security legislation on 1st January 2013, consequent to which the Netherlands began to apply the “country of residence” principle on certain social security benefits exported to other countries.
  • After the adoption of the new social security legislation, the Netherlands side requested that India agree to revise the bilateral SSA since such a revision would be necessary as per the national legislation of the Netherlands.
  • As on date, India has signed and operationalized SSAs with 18 countries – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and South Korea.

Reference:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=165848