More Kela decisions to be issued electronically, with significant savings expected over the next few years
Electronic decisions are now an option with even more Kela benefits. The goal with going paperless is to achieve savings of nearly 3 million euros in 2023.
For some time now, customers have had the option to receive documents from Kela electronically whenever available. The choice to opt out of paper mail is left to each customer.
Kela’s customers have for a few years had the option to go paperless in some of their interactions with Kela. So far this has been possible for example with sickness allowances and the bill payment notifications sent to social assistance recipients. “The range of paperless benefits expanded in August to include the newly reformed parental leave system, and most recently, the rest of the family benefits and the conscript’s allowance”, Anu Lantonen of Kela says.
Early next year, the option to go paperless will be introduced throughout the basic social assistance scheme. During the rest of 2023, the range of Kela benefits where customers can activate the paperless option will be expanded further, making it possible for customers to receive decisions on their applications and other documents electronically only.
>> Find out here which decisions and documents are currently available electronically: Decisions and documents in the OmaKela e-service
All documents stored at a single location
Customers who choose to go paperless will be sent a notification by email or text message whenever they have new documents in OmaKela. The Päätökset ja muut asiakirjasi (Your decisions and other documents) section of OmaKela allows customers to view the documents sent by Kela, including decisions and letters.
Documents issued in the current and two preceding years are available. Some documents can only be viewed in the browser window, while others are available as PDF files only. Customers can filter the list of documents. The list also includes decisions sent to customers on paper.
When using OmaKela on behalf of someone else, it is not possible to view that person’s decisions or other documents. This is for privacy reasons, because such documents may contain personal information about third parties.
Major savings targeted
Kela currently sends out about 14 million documents annually. The goal with paperless decisions is not only to deliver big financial savings but also to make an environmental impact.
The target for 2023 is to save nearly 3 million euros in reduced printing and mailing costs. In 2024, electronic decisions are estimated to produce savings of more than 4.5 million euros.
How to authorise Kela to send you decisions in electronic form only:
- Log in to the OmaKela e-service using the link on the kela.fi home page.
- Go to Päivitä omia tietojasi (Update your information).
- Select Luovu paperipostista (Do not send me paper documents).
- Confirm that you do not wish to receive paper documents. Note that going paperless requires you to authorise Kela to send you messages. This authorisation can be given in the Viestit (Messages) section of OmaKela. There you can choose whether you wish to be notified of new documents by email or text message.
- Save your changes.