The Government proposes to extend Kela’s right of access to information in the interest of reducing incorrect benefit payments and benefit fraud

What are the proposed changes?

The Government has submitted proposals for the amendment of the Act on Social Assistance, the Act on General Housing Allowance, the Act on Housing Allowance for Pensioners, the Act on the Bank and Payment Accounts Monitoring System, and the Health Insurance Act. 

If Parliament approves the legislative amendments, Kela’s customer service will run more smoothly, since Kela would then be able to obtain information necessary for the processing of customers’ benefit applications directly from the banks. The information would include details of bank accounts, bank balances and assets, and it would be transmitted via the bank and payment accounts monitoring system. At present, customers already provide this information to Kela, so Kela would not be gaining access to new information.

If the amendments pass into law, Kela will be able to obtain a customer’s transaction history directly from their bank, unless the customer notifies Kela in their application that they prefer to provide bank statements to Kela themselves, as is currently the practice. If Kela is able to request this information directly from the banks in digital format, customers will no longer need to submit bank statements with their applications, and in turn, application processing at Kela will be quicker, since there will no longer be a need to contact customers and ask them for additional information. Kela would still have the right to verify information with the bank if there is reason to suspect that the customer has submitted falsified documents.

If the amendments are approved, Kela will have the right to request information directly from the sender of the invoice for expenses recognised for purposes of social assistance in cases of suspected benefit fraud. The purpose of this amendment is to address situations where a customer is suspected of falsifying their invoices.

The proposal will specify the obligation of applicants for social assistance to provide accurate and up-to-date information to Kela about addresses they are staying at permanently or temporarily. 

Recurring misuse of Kela taxis is addressed in the proposal by giving Kela the right to release personal data on persons who no longer receive direct reimbursement for travel costs to the dispatch centre that handles ride-sharing. Reimbursement for the cost of trips to a healthcare or rehabilitation provider is then paid into the customer’s account following a separate application by the customer. 

In addition, the proposal includes amendment of Kela’s right of access to information to allow Kela to obtain medical statements and medical certificates needed as supporting documents to a customer’s benefit application in electronic format directly from the Kanta query and forwarding service. This means that customers would no longer have to submit them as supporting documents. 

When are the proposed changes intended to enter into force?

If the legislative amendments are approved by Parliament, the changes will enter into force on 1 September 2026 and 1 March 2027.

We will provide more information on any changes and their timing once Parliament has reviewed the government proposal.

Do I need to do anything?

The proposed legislative amendments have not yet been approved by Parliament. You do not need to contact Kela.

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Government proposes measures to prevent benefit fraud and incorrect payments - Ministry of Social Affairs and Health