Sajjad Sangsari, advisor to the minister and head of the Inspection Center of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, stated that concerns about the two-month delay in voucher payments are unfounded and announced the review of store protests regarding the timing of claims settlement.
Review of Store Protests
In the ninth issue-oriented dialogue meeting with civil organizations and institutions, Sajjad Sangsari referred to reports indicating a difference in the timing of claims settlement between chain stores and small retailers in the electronic voucher scheme. He emphasized that this issue has been communicated to the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, and a team from the Farah Company will be dispatched this week to verify the accuracy of these reports.
Sangsari said: "Payments to guilds have been made by October 4, and nevertheless, the issues raised by sellers need to be examined." According to him, case studies have shown that some of the protests stem from discrepancies in the calculations and audits of the stores. Additionally, the provincial directors of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare have access to payment information, and sellers can refer to these offices to check their account status.
Fake Letter and the Need for Information Dissemination
In another part of his remarks, Sangsari addressed a letter attributed to the Farah Company that mentioned changing the payment period for vouchers to two months. He called this letter fake and emphasized that this letter, which was published with a signature attributed to one of the officials of the Farah Company, has circulated among some unions, associations, and guilds in recent days, creating concerns among the guilds.
The minister's advisor urged the guilds and relevant organizations to inform about the falsity of this letter to prevent the spread of anxiety among sellers. He also expressed hope that with the conducted reviews, existing ambiguities would be resolved and the status of claims settlement would be clarified for sellers.
Ultimately, Sajjad Sangsari stressed the necessity of cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare and the guilds to prevent similar problems in the future.
