North Evia – Samos Pass in operation from June 30, to support tourism in North Evia and Samos

The North Evia – Samos Pass will be put into operation on Thursday 30 June at 12:00 via vouchers.gov.gr. This is the platform that aims to financially support the tourist activity for the regions of Northern Evia and Samos. With this action, with a total budget of 6 million euros, about 32,000 beneficiaries will be able to issue an intangible digital debit card as an incentive to visit the two areas, boosting local tourism.

Specifically, through the vouchers.gov.gr platform, the beneficiaries can issue an intangible digital debit card, which they will be able to use for accommodation, catering and local transport expenses in the above affected areas. The action has no income criteria and, therefore, the application for the NorthEvia – Samos Pass has the right to submit those citizens:

– are tax residents of Greece according to the tax return of the tax year 2020 and
– are not beneficiaries – beneficiaries in the context of:

– the Social Tourism program for the period 2021-2022,
– of the Social Tourism program of D.Y.PA. 2022 and the action “Tourism for all” of the Ministry of Tourism or
related provision by any other body for the same period.

It is clarified that for married people or persons who have concluded a cohabitation agreement until the tax year 2020, the beneficiary is the person required to submit the tax return or one of the two, in case of a separate declaration. The North Evia – Samos Pass can be used exclusively either by the beneficiary himself to cover the costs of local transport, catering or accommodation, or by those defined as its “beneficiaries”, ie:

– his adult children who are declared as dependent members in the personal income tax return for the tax year 2020, or
– the beneficiary’s spouse or the person who has entered into a cohabitation agreement with him / her.

The action is divided into four phases, during which the beneficiaries will be able to apply for the issuance of intangible digital debit cards and use them at specific intervals. In particular, the program is structured per month, as follows:

The operation of the platform is very simple, as for the submission of the application every citizen needs only his codes in Taxisnet and the confirmation of a mobile phone number and an e-mail address. All other data are pumped automatically, through the Interoperability Center of the General Secretariat of Information Systems of Public Administration. Analytically:

1. The citizen enters the platform with his codes in Taxisnet.
2. Immediately after, it enters its contact details, ie the e-mail address and the mobile phone number, which it then certifies via hyperlink and one-time code (OTP – OneTimePassword) respectively.
3. Next, he states the destination of his choice between Samos and Northern Evia.
4. It then states the number of the mobile phone on which the intangible digital debit card will be activated, if approved.
5. Finally, the citizen declares responsibly that he is not subject to any of the exceptions to the action and chooses “Submission”, completing the application process.

The process can also be done through KEP.

The evaluation of the application and the issuance of the intangible digital debit card will take up to three working days. After the approval and issuance of the intangible digital debit card, the payment service provider informs the beneficiary about the procedure to be followed for the activation of the card.

It is clarified that the permanent residents of the areas cannot use the intangible digital debit card at their place of residence. Thus, the permanent residents of Northern Evia can apply for the North Evia – Samos Pass stating as destination only Samos and vice versa. In addition, storing the intangible digital debit card requires a suitable smartphone that supports NFC technology – contactless transactions. Finally, in case of an approved application, the revocation or submission of a second application is not allowed.

The North Evia – Samos Pass was implemented by the National Network of Technology and Research Infrastructures (EDYTE SA – GRNET), a supervised body of the Ministry of Digital Governance, and is funded by the Public Investment Program. The details of the action are regulated by no. 3603 / 28-06-2022 (Government Gazette B ‘3347 / 28.06.2022) Joint Ministerial Decision of the Ministers of State and Digital Government Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Development Adonis Georgiadis and Tourism Vassilis Kikilias, as well as the Deputy Minister of Finance and Finance Thyfokis Of Theodore Livaniou, with the cooperation of the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, in charge of State Aid and Rehabilitation from Natural Disasters, Christos Triantopoulos.

A detailed guide in the form of questions and answers can be found at vouchers.gov.gr/eviasamospass and for any further clarification you can contact 215 215 7841 (Monday to Friday and hours 09:00 – 17:00).