Around 27,800 Portuguese families will receive vouchers under the Vale Eficiência programme after initially being told they qualified but missing out. Environment Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho said in Parliament on Tuesday that the households had been emailed about the support.
The programme, launched in 2021, was designed to help families replace windows or buy heating equipment. Its original rules required a technical facilitator for each voucher, paid €50 to oversee the process. Carvalho said the programme faced major difficulties because facilitators were not available for that amount. Of the 40,000 vouchers initially planned, 20,000 were eventually issued.
The 27,800 households had been notified that they met the eligibility criteria: they received the social electricity tariff and had no outstanding debts to Social Security or the tax authorities. They were expected to receive between one and three vouchers once a facilitator had been assigned, but that support did not materialise.
A simplified process will now allow the families to receive one voucher worth €1,300 plus VAT, or €1,599 in total. The social-tariff requirement will not be checked again, as some households may no longer qualify for it, but the authorities will verify that they have no debts to the tax authorities. The measure is expected to cost €44 million.
Families will not have to pay upfront, and suppliers of the equipment have already been consulted. A platform is expected to open in November. Households will then have three months to confirm whether they want the voucher, followed by two months to redeem it with a supplier and six months to complete the work.
Sources: Observador.