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The Social Welfare Department (SWD) today (April 5) disbursed the first payment of the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) to eligible elderly persons under the Phase 1 - Auto Conversion arrangement. Payment will be credited today into their designated bank accounts currently used for receiving the Old Age Allowance (OAA) payment.
An SWD spokesman said that there are 272 833 eligible elderly persons under the OALA Phase 1 – Auto Conversion arrangement and they will receive the first payment today.
Generally speaking, if a recipient had previously started receiving the OAA on the first day of a month (i.e. on a calendar month basis), the first payment of OALA, including a lump sum payment in arrears counting from December 1, 2012 (effective date) the earliest (after deducting the OAA payment received by the recipient during the corresponding period) as well as the monthly payment for April will amount to a sum of $6,550. For detailed calculations, please refer to examples shown in Annex A and B.
However, as individual elderly persons may have started receiving the allowance on different dates (i.e. on a payment month basis) and on a different pay day, the amount of first payment an elderly person receives will differ according to his/her specific payment month and respective pay day. Two case examples are shown in Annex C and D for illustration purposes.
The spokesman said, "Though some of the beneficiaries will receive different amounts today, generally speaking, if the amount of allowance received by the beneficiaries is calculated on a calendar month basis, they will receive the total amount of $6,550 within April. The lump sum payment he/she receives today is the difference between the OAA and OALA effective from December 1, 2012."
SWD has, through its 11 District Social Welfare Offices, held 90 briefings for district organisations and personnel to assist elderly persons to understand the application arrangements of OALA and to answer their enquiries.
For details of the OALA, please visit SWD's website at www.swd.gov.hk/oala or call the OALA hotline at 3595 0130 and the 24-hour hotline of the OALA at 3142 2202 for further enquiries.
Ends/Friday, April 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:14
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