Facts
The Compensation Fund of the Canton of St. Gallen retroactively reduced the supplementary benefits paid to A. as of January 1, 1998, due to the cohabitation of the latter with her 14-year-old granddaughter. The Fund applied a 50% deduction on the rent, in accordance with Art. 16c of the Ordinance on Supplementary Benefits (OPC-AVS/AI) that entered into force on January 1, 1998. The Insurance Court of the Canton of St. Gallen annulled this decision and referred the case back to the Fund for a new calculation taking into account the full rent. The Fund appealed against this decision.Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court considers that Art. 16c OPC-AVS/AI, which provides for the mandatory sharing of rent in the case of shared housing, is in accordance with the law. Although the legislator did not expressly regulate this issue in the Supplementary Benefits Act (LPC), this provision of the Ordinance constitutes a legitimate implementing regulation aimed at preventing the indirect financing of persons who are not included in the calculation of supplementary benefits.
According to the Court, however, the equal sharing of rent is not automatically applicable. Exceptions are possible in specific cases, particularly when a person occupies the majority of the dwelling. In the present case, the granddaughter only stays with her grandmother from Monday to Friday during the school period, the…