Annual €400 payment: eligibility and November deadline now in Gazette
The annual benefit applies from 2026 and is due by 30 November. The main age conditions for this year’s payment use 31 December 2025 as the cut-off.
Update 14.11.2026 · 10:20, Athens time — What changed
The annual €400 payment for pensioners and other specified eligible groups is now included in Law 5355/2026, published in Government Gazette A 188/13.11.2026. Article 20 replaces the relevant provisions of Article 72 of Law 5217/2025 and, under Article 53, applies to payments from 2026. Enactment is the material change from the government announcement described in this article’s earlier version.
For the main category of old-age or survivor pension recipients, the text links eligibility to payment of a main pension in September of the reference year and an age reached by 31 December of the preceding year. For the 2026 payment, this means:
- Having turned 65 by 31 December 2025 for the old-age or survivor pension recipients covered by that category.
- Having turned 60 by 31 December 2025 for people receiving a survivor pension who do not receive a main old-age pension.
The above conditions for the main category do not set income or property thresholds. Article 20 also covers the specific groups it lists, including recipients of a main disability pension in September, uninsured older people, recipients of specified disability benefits and foster carers of people in the designated disability-welfare programmes. The main category’s age conditions are not presented as a general restriction on all these other groups.
The law sets a payment deadline of 30 November each year. The amount is tax-free and protected from seizure, with no fee, contribution or other deduction, and is not offset against the debts specified in the provision. A person qualifying under more than one category receives one annual payment; where one category concerns e-EFKA and the other OPEKA, e-EFKA makes the payment.
The deadline of “by 30 November” does not confirm that money has already been credited or establish a single credit date for every recipient. This remains an annual benefit rather than a general Christmas pension bonus.
Previous coverage — history · 01.10.2026
In its detailed presentation of the TIF measures, the government announced an increase in the annual November payment to €400 net and its extension to pensioners over 65. It also includes pensioners over 60 receiving only a survivor pension, people with disabilities and uninsured older people.
The announced timetable provides for payment on 30 November 2026. The same government text classified the increase to €400 among the new measures that had not yet been enacted when they were presented.
This is an annual payment, rather than the restoration of a general Christmas bonus for pensions. The final eligibility conditions and payment procedure are determined by legislation and official payment instructions.
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