05.01.2023
FREE VIGNETTES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE EXPIRING
In the first three months of 2023, the validity of 135,614 electronic vignettes issued through the Social Assistance Agency to people with reduced working capacity expires. The total number of free vignettes provided to people with disabilities as of December 20, 2022 is 214,525. They are for over BGN 20 million and are at the expense of the budget of the Road Infrastructure Agency.
The most free vignettes expire in January – 80,638. In February – 34,512, and in March – 20,464 vignettes. The validity period of e-vignettes can be checked on the Road Infrastructure Agency website www.api.bg and www.bgtoll.bg. The direct link for checking is https://check.bgtoll.bg.
People with a 50 percent or more than 50 percent reduced ability to work, as well as families raising children with permanent disabilities, are entitled to a free one-year e-vignette. The right is for one car with an engine power of up to 160 hp. and engine capacity up to 2000 cc. It is recommended that applications for the renewal of free vignettes be submitted when their expiry date approaches. They are submitted to the "Social Assistance" Directorate at the current address - in person, by letter or electronically with an electronic signature. The social services process the documents within 7 days. The Social Assistance Agency sends the processed requests daily to the Road Infrastructure Agency, which issues the e-vignette within the next working day.
Upon transfer of ownership, the free e-vignette does not follow the vehicle. In these cases, the right holder must notify the Road Infrastructure Agency within three working days in order to receive a new free vignette from the Social Assistance Agency. Transfer of ownership refers to the purchase and sale of a vehicle or the scrapping of a car and transfer to a licensed dismantling company with a contract. When the vehicle is scrapped and left for storage on private property, the person is not entitled to be issued a new free electronic vignette until the original validity expires.
In case of difficulties and the need for consultation, those who wish to be issued a free e-vignette through the Social Assistance Agency can contact the customer service center of the National Toll Office at tel.: 0700 10 876 or at e-mail: info@bgtoll.bg.
04.01.2023
AM I ENTITLED TO A FREE VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE WORK?
According to Art. 8 of the Ordinance, the employer should organize the work of persons working with video displays in a way that ensures periodic interruptions of work with video displays, which are used for:
In addition to the specified measures, the employer also provides an eye examination and assessment of the vision status of persons working with video displays by an eye specialist: before starting work with video displays; once every three years for persons under 40 years of age and annually for persons over 40 years of age, as well as for complaints of vision disturbances that may be due to work with video displays. In cases where during these examinations the need for means of vision correction is established when working with video displays, they are also provided at the expense of the employer.
The main requirements that employers and employees must comply with when working with video displays are defined by Ordinance No. 7 of 15.08.2005 on the minimum requirements for ensuring healthy and safe working conditions when working with video displays. According to the regulation, the employer is obliged to carry out a risk assessment of workplaces with video displays to determine possible risks to the health and safety of workers, especially in terms of vision, the musculoskeletal system, the occurrence of mental stress, etc.
According to the risk assessment, the employer is obliged to take the necessary measures to reduce the risks, as well as to provide employees with training and information about these measures and the requirements for the specific equipment, the work environment, the software products used and the possible risks.
The purpose of the cited measures is to ensure working conditions in which all occupational risks are eliminated or reduced, with a view to preserving the health and working capacity of the worker under conditions of full employment and during his entire working experience.
04.01.2023
BENEFITS FOR 670,000 PEOPLE WITH PERMANENT DISABILITIES ARE BEING INCREASED
Monthly financial support for 670,000 people with permanent disabilities will increase by 22% from January 1, 2023. The increase is the result of the increase in the poverty line from BGN 413 to BGN 504 from the same date.
According to the Law on People with Disabilities, the specific amount of assistance is a percentage of its value and is determined depending on the degree of disability, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy recalls.
Thus, people with over 90% disability, with certain foreign assistance, who receive a social disability pension, from next year will receive BGN 287.28 per month - BGN 52 more than at the moment.
For people with over 90% degree of disability, with certain foreign aid, who receive a disability pension due to a general illness or due to an occupational accident or occupational disease - the monthly financial support will increase by nearly BGN 30 and will reach BGN 151.20.
People with over 90% disability will receive BGN 126 each.
People with a 71 to 90% degree of disability will receive BGN 75.60 per month, and those with a degree of disability between 50 and 70.99% will receive BGN 35.28.
Monthly financial support is paid by the Social Assistance Agency under the Law on People with Disabilities.
The new higher amount of benefits for the month of January 2023 will be paid in February. In January, however, people will receive monthly financial support for December 2022, which will be in its current amount.
Before Christmas, the Parliament passed the second reading of changes to the Social Assistance Act. The amendments provide that social benefits will be determined based on the amount of the poverty line for the relevant year, determined by a decree of the Council of Ministers. So far, social benefits have been determined on the basis of a guaranteed minimum income.
03.01.2023
THE MINIMUM WAGE BECOMES BGN 780 FROM JANUARY 1, 2023
The minimum wage becomes BGN 780 from January 1, 2023, the government decided. Its size increased by 9.9% compared to its previous value, and the increase on an annual basis is 20%. This was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Policy Lazar Lazarov.
When determining the new amount of the minimum wage, the real parameters of the macroeconomic environment and the possibilities of the state budget were taken into account. "This will contribute to reducing poverty among working people and inequalities in the distribution of income," said Deputy Prime Minister Lazarov.
The growth of the minimum wage will increase the purchasing power and consumption of the lowest income groups of the labor market, increase the motivation of the workforce and reduce unfair competition. "This increase will also support those working in social services and personal assistants under the personal assistance mechanism, whose salaries are determined by a factor corresponding to the amount of the minimum wage," the minister emphasized.
With the adoption of the new amount of remuneration, conditions are created for the preparation of a mechanism for determining the minimum wage. "Its development will begin at the beginning of 2023, when, together with the social partners, we will also start work on the creation of prerequisites for the implementation of the Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages," explained Deputy Prime Minister Lazarov.
03.01.2023
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE EU CAN APPLY TO IMPLEMENT THE ALMA INITIATIVE
Public and private organizations and institutions with headquarters in a member state of the European Union can apply with project proposals under the call for implementation of the ALMA initiative. The invitation is implemented by the European Social Fund Agency ESFA within the framework of the Initiative for Social Innovation at the EU level. Applicants must be in the role of a "sending organisation" for young people under the ALMA (Aim-Learn-Master-Achieve) initiative. Projects should target young people from the NEET group who are neither working nor in education or training.
The main objective of the call is to support the Member States in the implementation of the ALMA initiative in the programs funded by the European Social Fund +. Under the ALMA initiative, opportunities are provided to disadvantaged young people to do internships and gain experience with an employer in another EU member state, and on their return to be supported to find a job.
Eligible project activities will be implemented in two phases - preparation and implementation. In the preparatory phase, it is permissible to build partnerships, including transnational ones, for the implementation of ALMA activities. In the second phase, organizations can carry out selection and training of participants, as well as mobility of young people in another EU member state for a period of up to 6 months. Young NEETs can count on counseling and career guidance after returning to their home country. In the framework of the second phase, a report on the lessons learned from the implementation of the activities can be prepared, and the experience gained can be disseminated at the national level.
The budget of the invitation is EUR 15 million. Grant funding for one project is from 300,000 to 650,000 euros, and the amount cannot exceed 80% of the total project budget. The application deadline is March 15, 2023. Project proposals are submitted online only through the eSINNIS (Social Innovation Information System) portal.
Details of the invitation and application documents can be found HERE.
03.01.2023
HOW WILL SOCIAL BENEFITS RISE FROM THIS YEAR
From June 1, 2023, more people will enter the social assistance system, and the amounts of monthly benefits will also increase. They will now be calculated as 25 percent of the poverty line, and in 2024 as 30 percent of the threshold, which is updated annually.
For decades, the Guaranteed Minimum Income, which will remain in history, has been used as a basis for access and for determining the amounts of benefits. What are the changes in the Social Assistance Act adopted a few days ago by the National Assembly?
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy calculates that in 2024 over 115 thousand people will receive monthly benefits, now they are 63 thousand, and in addition, because of the commitment to the poverty line, which this year is already 504 BGN, they are also increasing disbursed funds.
"If in 2022 a person over 65 lives alone and the limit for access was BGN 115.50, then after June 1, 2023, this limit will be BGN 176.40, correspondingly, this will be the amount of the monthly allowance if the person has no income.
Another example - if a person with a permanently reduced ability to work - 70 and over 70 percent of the access limit in 2022, the amount was BGN 103.50, then after the law comes into force the access limit will already be BGN 157.50 and the amount of aid received accordingly. So, if we compare BGN 103 to BGN 157, we will see this significant increase, and in 2024 the benefits will be even higher in view of the increased poverty line for this year and the correspondingly increased percentage to the poverty line no more a little less than 30%," explained Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy Nadiya Klisurska to BNR.
The adoption of the changes in the law on social assistance was imperative both because it is stipulated as conditions under the second tranche that our country will request under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan and because Bulgaria received regular criticism that it does not have adequate support tools. By June, the changes in the by-laws will also be adopted, easier access and gentler restrictions are foreseen for people temporarily deprived of benefits.
30.12.2022
WHAT ARE THE HOLIDAYS IN 2023
Current calendar of public holidays in 2023. See which days are holidays and the possibilities of combining leave with holidays.
In short, the following days are public holidays and non-working days in 2023:
January 1, 2023 – New Year.
March 3 – Liberation Day of Bulgaria from Ottoman slavery.
April 16, 2023 - Easter - the Christian religion celebrates the Resurrection of Christ.
May 1 - Day of Labor and International Workers' Solidarity.
May 6 – St. George's Day, Day of Courage and the Bulgarian Army.
May 24 – Day of Bulgarian education and culture and Slavic writing.
September 6 – The unification of Bulgaria.
September 22 – Bulgaria's Independence Day.
December 24, 25, 26, 27 – Christmas.
30.12.2022
12 QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU CHART A NEW PATH FOR YOURSELF IN 2023.
As 2022 draws to a close, we think we can all agree on one thing – it's been a strange year. With the worst of the pandemic (hopefully) behind us, people have finally come out of the dark rooms, looked around, and started asking themselves: What do I do with my life now?
This confused determination to chart a new course, both in life and professionally, is reflected in persistently high attrition rates, a growing interest in entrepreneurship and digital nomadism, and an increase in the number of publications and reflections on how many of us are rethinking your priorities and attitude towards work.
It's clear that many people are determined to reinvent themselves in 2023, but the question is where to start. There are a number of articles by organizational psychologists and even entire books that promise to help guide you on the new path you want to take. But one of the most thought-provoking resources we've stumbled upon recently is a set of questions from Thought Catalog.
The simple list of 31 questions is designed to get you thinking about what motivates you, what drains your energy, what holds you back, and where you ultimately hope to end up. We have selected 12 questions to help you find a new path in 2023:
After thinking about these questions, you will be ready to take a new path in 2023.
30.12.2022
SCIENCE MAGAZINE HAS ANNOUNCED THE 10 BIGGEST SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS OF 2022.
Every year in mid-December, the journal Science publishes a list of the scientific achievements of the year, choosing one major breakthrough and nine other important discoveries. Unlike Nature, the Science list is not dedicated to the people whose names are associated with the most important scientific stories of the year, but to the events and discoveries themselves.
In 2021, the journal's editors announced as the major scientific breakthrough of the year advances in protein structure prediction using machine learning, specifically the open source algorithms AlphaFold2 and RoseTTAFold. The main breakthrough, according to the editors, this year is the commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Top 10 scientific achievements for 2022
The James Webb Space Telescope mission
JWST is a space observatory for studying the universe in the infrared wavelength range (unlike, for example, Hubble, which works in the optical and ultraviolet part of the spectrum). The observatory's main mirror consists of 18 gold-plated beryllium segments with a total area of 27 square meters and a weight of 625 kilograms: six times larger than Hubble's mirror and almost a third lighter.
It took almost a quarter of a century and $10 billion to prepare for the launch of the telescope. Therefore, the launch and start of observations is a real breakthrough.
In fact, the space observatory will not fly into space in 2022, but at the end of 2021 - on December 25, 2021, after three years of comprehensive tests, the Ariana 5 rocket with the telescope launched from Kourou in French Guiana. To avoid chronological inconsistencies, the editorial board calls the breakthrough not the launch, but the telescope flight, because it occurs after the publication of the previous list.
In January 2022, the infrared telescope entered orbit around the second Lagrange point in the Sun-Earth system and on February 11 sent its first technical image. Another five months later, the observatory officially began its science program, and the first science image—an example of gravitational lensing of light from a distant galaxy from the early universe—was released on the evening of July 11. The following day, images of the Carina and Southern Ring Nebulae, as well as the Stefan Quintet group of compact galaxies, were presented.
For six months after that, the telescope regularly took pictures of both new and well-known objects, but with previously unavailable resolution and in a different part of the spectrum.
Perennial rice
According to the editors of Science, a high-yielding perennial rice variety deserves a place in the top ten. Converting annual grasses to perennial forms is one way to achieve higher yields, but also to preserve soil fertility without using up too many resources.
Perennial rice was first bred twenty years ago by crossing the cultivated Asian rice Oryza sativa with its African perennial relative Oryza longistaminata. But it took another two decades to achieve sufficient extraction from it. Chinese scientists began to study it in 2018, and this year they report their successes.
Their PR23 variety yields about the same amount of grain in the first year as regular annual rice, at the same planting and cultivation costs. And in the second, third and fourth years, the yield remains the same, falling only in the fifth year. This saves 77 man-days per hectare per season and cuts costs in half.
Neural networks - creators
2022 is the year that artificial intelligence (AI) technology enters fields that were once considered uniquely human, including art and scientific discovery. At first the entry of machines was slow, but this year it became an unstoppable colonizer of these new territories.
Last year, the editors of the journal Science recognized AI tools that predict the 3D structure of proteins from the sequence of their amino acid building blocks. Extending this work, researchers are now using AI to design entirely new proteins that could be used in vaccines, building materials or nanomachines. One technique, called "hallucination," starts with random sequences and mutates them to sequences that other AI tools are confident will fold into stable proteins.
But this year's edition celebrates the neural networks used to create images and videos.
The most impressive evidence - inevitably in social media - comes from so-called "text-to-image" patterns. They use machine learning to analyze pairings of text and images online, finding patterns that allow them to create new images based on new text.
Last year, the OpenAI research lab introduced a software system called DALL-E that, when asked about an "avocado-shaped armchair," could spit out several fascinating examples. This spring, OpenAI released a major upgrade, DALL-E 2. It implemented a machine learning technique called "diffusion," in which images emerge from "noise" guided by context or textual descriptions.
The method can effectively generate realistic and attractive pictures. Several diffusion models became available for public use this year, and an artist using one won a fine art competition, sparking both curiosity and denial.
In October, Google expanded Imagen's creative algorithms to video. Neural networks have now learned to generate videos based on text descriptions. A few days before, researchers from Meta presented a similar algorithm. A little later, Google researchers developed Imagic, a neural network model that edits images based on verbal instructions.
You can read about how such neural networks are already influencing the practice of artists and designers in the article "Is Lensa's artificial intelligence stealing from human art? Expert explains the controversy".
The biggest bacteria
In June of this year, biologists described the largest known bacterium. It is not just larger than all other bacteria, but larger than most of them by about 5000 times. Its cell can reach two centimeters in length. The bacterium was discovered in a mangrove swamp in the Caribbean and is called Thiomargarita magnifica.
Unlike larger, multicellular organisms—eukaryotes like us, which have membrane-enclosed organelles in their cells such as the nucleus—bacteria belong to a group of organisms called prokaryotes, which were traditionally thought to be just "bags of enzymes" without internal membranes to separate genetic material.
RSV vaccines
The editors of the journal Science cite clinical trials of two vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as an important breakthrough.
According to studies by Pfizer and GSK, the new vaccines protect infants and the elderly, the groups most at risk from RSV. RSV usually causes only mild cold symptoms, but in infants it can affect the lower respiratory tract and cause bronchiolitis with acute respiratory failure, and in the elderly it can exacerbate heart disease.
Both vaccines prevent severe symptoms in people over the age of 60 without causing serious side effects. They also protect babies from RSV if their mothers are vaccinated late in pregnancy.
Development of RSV vaccines has been halted for decades since more than 50 years ago, during clinical trials of an inactivated vaccine, two children died and 80% of study participants were hospitalized. The scientists later identified the main reason why the vaccine virus was so dangerous to the test subjects: It induced the formation of relatively weak antibodies that not only failed to stop the virus, but through poorly understood mechanisms helped RSV damage the respiratory tract.
New vaccines solve this problem: now antibodies are formed more reliably and in higher concentrations.
The virus responsible for multiple sclerosis
Another breakthrough in 2022 was the discovery that the herpes simplex virus is a major factor in multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the immune system attacks and damages the myelin sheath of neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
Analysis of a vast array of military medical records shows that multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease believed to be of unknown etiology, is a complication of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection.
Epstein-Barr virus, also known as human herpesvirus 4, is a member of the herpes virus family. It is one of the most common human viruses. EBV is found worldwide. Most people become infected with EBV at some point in their lives. EBV is most commonly spread through body fluids, primarily saliva.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The underlying cause of this disease is unknown, but the Epstein-Barr virus is thought to be the possible culprit. But most people infected with this common virus do not develop multiple sclerosis, and it is not possible to directly demonstrate the cause of this disease in humans.
Using data from more than ten million United States military personnel observed over a 20-year period, 955 of whom were diagnosed with MS during their service, Kjetil Bjornevik and colleagues tested the hypothesis that MS is caused by EBV. They found that the risk of developing MS in individuals who were EBV-negative increased 32-fold after EBV infection.
The findings could lead to new ways to treat or prevent the mysterious disease, which causes mild symptoms - including blurred vision, fatigue and numbness - in some 2.8 million sufferers worldwide, but gradually leaves others unable to speak or walk.
America's Climate Act
In 2016, the Paris Agreement was signed as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The signatories of the agreement recognize the need to contain the global increase in the average temperature of the planet within two degrees Celsius by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the laws of the signatory countries themselves prevent the achievement of this ambitious goal. In the US, for example, emissions reductions have not been regulated so far.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which Joe Biden signed on August 16, 2022, is this year's breakthrough. This law should encourage the transition to clean energy and electric cars. Over the next 10 years, $369 billion will be used to finance clean energy sources. The authors of the law believe that by 2030 it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 40%.
The Science editorial notes that the Inflation Reduction Act is a necessary, though still insufficient, measure to meet the US's commitments under the Paris Agreement. In addition to federal law, state laws will also be needed. Similar laws are expected to be adopted soon in other countries that have signed the agreement.
The genetic imprint of the plague
In October, Nature published a paper showing how the Black Death - a plague pandemic in Europe in the 14th century - affected Europeans. After that, Europe's population declined significantly, and subsequent plague outbreaks were less deadly—whether the pathogen changed or the people. The work of geneticists at the University of Chicago shows that the plague changed Europeans quite dramatically.
Geneticists analyzed the DNA of people who died shortly before and after the pandemic and found loci that were most likely to have been under positive selection. It turns out that the Black Death most affected the development of the human immune system.
One of the loci discovered contains the ERAP2 gene, which is linked to the immune system. On the one hand, this can be considered an adaptation to infectious diseases, but changes in this locus also increase the risk of its owners developing autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
The deflection of an asteroid
Another breakthrough in 2022 is the success of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. The mission began two years ago when NASA's DART spacecraft was launched into space -- specifically to collide with the 160-meter asteroid Dimorphos, which is not dangerous to Earth. The mission was intended to alter the asteroid's trajectory to test a controlled collision technique, one way to protect Earth from asteroids.
On September 27, 2022, at 02:14 Bulgarian time, a 550-kilogram probe hits Dimorphos at a speed of over 6 km per second.
A number of space and ground-based telescopes watched the collision to confirm that the asteroid's trajectory had changed. The results even beat scientists' expectations and model estimates: Dimorphos' rotation period around a larger asteroid from the same system changed by as much as 32 minutes - 26 times more than NASA predicted. These results allow scientists to verify the effectiveness of the kinetic deflection method. And also that their models will need to be refined.
An ancient ecosystem reconstructed from 2 million-year-old DNA
The latest breakthrough, which the editors of Science write about, is the discovery of fragments of the oldest DNA in the Kap København formation (Kap København from the Danish "Cape Copenhagen") in northern Greenland.
According to the analysis, the genetic material found is more than two million years old. It is twice as old as the previous record - DNA from a Siberian mammoth bone. Apart from the record age, the importance of the work lies in the fact that molecular biologists were able to recreate an entire ecosystem of multiple species of plants, animals and microorganisms, which at the time was experiencing a dramatic climate crisis, based on sequencing data.
Samples of the genetic material have been stored in a laboratory at the University of Copenhagen since 2006. The ancient DNA in these samples is relatively well preserved because it binds to the minerals in the clay. Thanks to this, modern sequencing methods have produced more than 16 billion records. The results were compared to existing databases of genomes of modern animals, plants and microorganisms, and the ecosystem of Cape Copenhagen two million years ago was recreated. At that time, poplars, birches, arctic grasses and bushes grew there, and mastodons walked among them, as well as the ancestors of modern rabbits, reindeer, rodents.
The Science editors note that genetic adaptations that allowed plants and animals to live in the far North at warmer temperatures than today can be found in these data. And this can be used - for example, to build into the genes of modern plants to adapt crops to a changing climate.
These are the achievements noted by the editors of the journal Science. Are they missing something important? Definitely.
30.12.2022
CHEAPER VIGNETTES FROM JANUARY IN OUR COUNTRY
From January 1, 2023, new prices for vignettes and tolls in our country will come into force, the Road Infrastructure Agency reminds.
All types of electronic vignettes for road vehicles with a total technically permissible maximum mass up to or equal to 3.5 tons will become cheaper by nearly 10%. The annual vignette will cost 87 BGN, the quarterly vignette will be 48 BGN, the monthly – 27 BGN, the weekly – 13 BGN, and the weekend vignette – 9 BGN.
Electronic vignettes bought in December 2022, even if they have an activation period after 00:00 on 01.01.2023, are calculated at the prices valid until the end of the current year. They are as follows - annual vignette - 97 BGN, quarterly - 54 BGN, monthly - 30 BGN, weekly - 15 BGN, weekend vignette - 10 BGN. Therefore, it should be taken into account that if a driver of a motor vehicle facility buys an annual vignette at the end of December 2022, it will be sold at the prices in effect in 2022.
Revenues from tolls at the end of November 2022 are nearly BGN 511 million, the Road Infrastructure Agency reports. Approximately BGN 268 million of them are from e-vignettes, and about BGN 243 million from tolls.
The expected revenue from tolls - e-vignettes and tolls - in 2023 is about BGN 800 million. It is estimated that nearly BGN 550 million of the revenue will come from tolls that vehicles over 3.5 tons pay for tolls distance. About BGN 250 million is the expected revenue from e-vignettes.
The National Toll Administration appeals to users to use the website www.bgtoll.bg or the mobile application to purchase an e-vignette. Electronic vignettes can also be bought through the other sales channels of the Road Infrastructure Agency - at the counter against payment in cash or through a self-billing terminal - with a card. There are counters at the main border checkpoints, as well as in the 27 regional road administrations in the country.
Electronic vignettes are also sold in the partner network of the Road Infrastructure Agency, which includes the sites www.vinetki.bg, www.tollpass.bg, www.digitoll.bg, www.epay.bg and others.
When purchasing an e-vignette, users must carefully review and check the information entered by them or the relevant employee before finally confirming the payment of the toll. The owner or user is responsible for filling in correct information about the vehicle number, its category and the validity period of the vignette. In case of incorrectly declared data, it is considered that the due vignette fee for the respective vehicle has not been paid.
The characters of the registration number can be written in both Cyrillic and Latin letters, but must correspond to the characters in the registration number itself. When writing the number, only letters and numbers are entered. The symbols 0 (zero) and O (letter O) are not interchangeable. 0 (zero) must be written for a digit of the number, and "O" for a letter. In case the registration number contains a dash, period or space, they are not entered.
Persons with 50 percent and more than 50 percent reduced working capacity are entitled to a free e-vignette, as well as families raising children with permanent disabilities up to the age of 18 or until they have completed secondary education, but no older than 20- years old. According to the Road Act, the right is for one car with a power of up to 160 horsepower and engine volume up to 2000 cubic cm.
It should be taken into account that the free electronic vignette does not follow the road vehicle in case of transfer of its ownership. In such a case, the right holder is obliged to notify the Road Infrastructure Agency of the transfer within three working days in order to be issued a new free electronic vignette.
The application for the issuance of a free e-vignette must be submitted by the holder to the "Social Assistance" Directorate at the current address - in person or through an authorized person, by letter or electronically. The social services process and approve the documents within 7 days of submitting the application.
The Social Assistance Agency sends the processed requests daily to the Road Infrastructure Agency, which issues the e-vignette within the next working day.
In case of difficulties and the need for consultation, those wishing to be issued a free e-vignette through the Social Assistance Agency can contact the customer service center of the National Toll Office on tel.: 0700 10 876 or on e-mail: info@bgtoll.bg.
