Reservists called up for exercises get their travel paid: 7.5 litres per 100 kilometres

A reservist called up for an exercise no longer has to wonder who pays for the journey, and how much. The Ministry of Justice has approved the procedure for reimbursing the travel costs of reservists in the prison system who are called up for mobilisation exercises and drills, for mobilisation or for war. The order has three articles and an annex with eight articles, plus the template of the reimbursement application, and it rests on Article 26(1) of Law no. 355/2009 on the regime of partial or total mobilisation of the armed forces and of the state of war and on Article 74 of Law no. 446/2006 on preparing the population for defence. It is one of the procedural acts published on the same day, alongside the one setting out the path of medical reassessment for people with disabilities.

The procedure applies to the Ministry of Justice, to the National Administration of Penitentiaries and to the units subordinated to it. It does not cover reservists of the Ministry of National Defence or of other structures, which have their own rules. In short: if you are in the reserve of the prison system and you receive a call-up order, this is the text that says who pays for your journey.

Reimbursement is made on the basis of the vouchers attached to the call-up order, whose template is laid down by Government Decision no. 13/2011. Journeys are accepted by lawfully held car, by public transport, meaning bus, minibus, train, tram, trolleybus, underground and cable transport where it exists, as well as by public waterborne transport.

What it changes in practice

The first effect is that three distinct payment situations appear, with different recipients. The reservist receives the money directly if he paid for the travel ticket out of his own pocket or if he travelled by his own car. The carrier receives the money directly if the reservist used the travel vouchers attached to the call-up order. The difference matters, because in the third case the reservist files no application at all: when he reports to the unit, the call-up order and the travel tickets received in exchange for the vouchers are retained.

The second effect is the rate for a personal car, written into Article 4 for the journey to a mobilisation exercise or drill: the value of 7.5 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres travelled, at the retail price. The price is the one written on the fuel receipt issued by petroleum product distribution companies during the period of the journey, so not an average value set administratively. The distance is calculated along the shortest road route between localities, and if that cannot be determined, along the railway, again on the shortest route.

The third effect is the broad definition of a lawfully held car. This covers not only the reservist’s own car, but also that of his or her spouse, children or parents, as well as a car used on the basis of agreements concluded with third parties, under the conditions of the law. It is a wording that avoids the situation where someone loses the reimbursement because they travelled in the family car.

The fourth effect concerns what is added to the fuel. The reimbursed costs also include any ferry, motorway and bridge charges. For public transport, the amount reimbursed is the value of the travel tickets, to which may be added travel agency commissions and other specific charges paid by passengers, as regulated in national legislation.

The fifth effect concerns deadlines, and they are written clearly. The unit notifies the carrier of the amount to be settled within 10 days of the date the transport was carried out. For mobilisation exercises and drills, reimbursement is made within 30 days of receiving the vouchers and the data needed for payment, from the resources allocated for this purpose. For mobilisation or war, the unit draws up a request for budget appropriations and forwards it up the chain, so payment depends on the allocation of funds.

The sixth effect is the most practical one for the reservist: the journey home is paid in advance. At the end of the exercise, on demobilisation or when the state of war ceases, the unit hands over through the cash office, in cash, the equivalent of the travel ticket or tickets to the reservist’s home. If he came by car, he likewise receives in cash the value of 7.5 litres per 100 kilometres for the distance home, at the price on the day of departure.

The seventh effect concerns the source of the money. For exercises and drills, the sums come from the prison units’ own budgets or from the budget of the National Administration of Penitentiaries. For mobilisation or war, they come from the state war budget, drawn up and approved under the conditions of the law.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

The right already existed. Article 26(1) of Law no. 355/2009 and Article 74 of Law no. 446/2006 on preparing the population for defence provide that reservists who are called up benefit from transport, and Government Decision no. 13/2011 had set out, back in 2011, the template of the call-up order with the travel vouchers attached. What was missing was the procedure through which the prison system gives effect to that right: who pays, within what time, on what documents and at what rate.

The first new element is the written rate. Without a text saying 7.5 litres per 100 kilometres and the price on the fuel receipt, the reimbursement of a journey by one’s own car was left to each unit’s judgement. Now the figure is the same for everyone, and the reservist can check for himself the amount he is entitled to.

The second new element is the timetable. Ten days for notifying the carrier of the amount, thirty days for the actual payment in the case of exercises and drills. These are deadlines that, in the absence of the procedure, nobody could invoke.

The third new element is the form. The annex to the procedure contains the template of the reimbursement application, with fields for the locality of residence, the county, the distance in kilometres to the locality where the activity takes place and the means of transport used. The application is approved by the director of the unit and endorsed by the chief accountant.

What has not changed: the reservist’s obligation to produce supporting documents. For a journey by car, what is needed is the fuel receipt issued during the period of the journey, the vehicle registration certificate of the car used, the identity document and, where applicable, other supporting documents provided for by law. And reimbursement is carried out in compliance with the legal provisions on public transport for pensioners, as applicable at the time of the journey.

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