The federal judge No. 1 of Córdoba, Alejandro Sánchez Freytes, declared law 27,609, on the retirement mobility index, unconstitutional, so it was implicit in the ruling that the National Social Security Administration (Anses) must apply the previous regulations (law 27,426), which contemplates an update of a pensioner’s assets according to the combination of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Average Taxable Remuneration of Stable Workers (Ripte).
The plaintiff maintained that Law 27,609 had caused her assets to lose monetary capacity, which is why the judge declared the regulations unconstitutional. In this way, implicitly, Anses must reapply law 27,426, which stipulates that the update be carried out with two components: 70% of the CPI and 30% of the Ripte.
“This is a fair, innovative and important ruling for retirees because it declares the mobility formula unconstitutional,” said lawyer Carla Simón to Cadena 3.
Retirement mobility formula
The national government had signed in March a decree to change the retirement mobility formula starting in April. This new formula stipulates a monthly increase in pensions based on the latest CPI published by Indec, which implied an update with a two-month delay. That is to say, the April retirements were adjusted with February inflation.
The old mobility formula, in force until March, adjusted retirements with variations that covered until the inflation of December of last year. This shows that there is a “bump” between the transition from the old and the new formula because neither of them contemplates inflation in January 2024.
Faced with this, the government of President Javier Milei added to the decree a one-time increase of 12.5% for April, when January inflation rose to 20.6%. The reason for this arbitrary increase clearly below inflation lies in the Government’s quest to maintain the fiscal surplus. The problem is that this measure aggravates the risks of litigation and, therefore, endangers the balance of public accounts in the future.
To remedy the “bump” in mobility, the opposition advanced with the half-sanction in Deputies of a bill that contemplates an additional increase to 12.5% so that the increase in pensions in April is equal to January inflation . By avoiding a greater loss of purchasing power, a new source of judicial proceedings is avoided.
The project also proposes an additional increase to the mobility formula to be applied in the month of March of each year, based on the comparison between the variation of the Average Taxable Remuneration of Stable Workers (Ripte) and the inflation of the last calendar year. It also seeks to guarantee that the minimum income reaches the total basic basket.
Finally, it recognises the pension debt that Anses has with the provincial pension funds that have not been transferred and with the beneficiaries who have a lawsuit with a final judgment.
