The Ministry of Social Affairs is preparing to create an e-linkage with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) which will automatically detect the number of meters belonging to the beneficiaries of social services.

The move comes in light of reports stating that fraudsters pretending to be social services beneficiaries are misusing its services.

Official spokesman for the Ministry Khalid bin Dakhailallah Al-Thubaiti said this linkage will contribute to uncovering embezzlers who take money from social security illegally. “If there is more than one meter in the beneficiary’s name, it means he must have a residential building,” Al-Thubaiti said.

He pointed out that the auditing and legal directorates had monitored fraud cases involving a number of citizens who are covered by the social insurance but are not deserving of social welfare benefits. “They are being followed up by the Justice ministry in cooperation with the Board of Grievances and will be required to return the money,” he asserted.

Al-Thubaiti said that 2,800 researchers conduct research on social insurance beneficiaries who stand at more than 800,000 countrywide.

“The e-research is connected through the Al-Alam Company for information security in the civil register in the National Information Center,” he informed, adding that the monthly research drops around 5,000 cases which don’t deserve social insurance each month.

Pointing to the existence of support programs which offer indirect services to social insurance beneficiaries, he said; “The aid program, food program, electric bill support program, comprehensive and productive family support programs are a few of these services.”

The Social Insurance department in the ministry has allocated more than SR2 billion for beneficiaries in the form of insurance wages, aid and supporting programs.

Meanwhile, the director of public relations and social media and official spokesman for the ministry said that the social insurance department paid around SR2,088,947,536 to beneficiaries during the month of December 2014.