A regulation under which the electronic services of the Unified Social Security Agency (e-EFKA) may assign the collection of overdue insurance debts to private companies was tabled in Parliament by Labor & Social Insurance Minister Niki Kerameus on Tuesday.

Outstanding debts are forwarded by e-EFKA to KEAO, the Collections Center for Insurance Debts.

The purpose of the regulation would be to support KEAO and improve collectibility of social security contributions, in order to strengthen the viability and reciprocity of the social insurance system, Kerameus said in a statement. Private enterprises will not replace KEAO in the actual collection of debts.

Current outstanding debts to e-EFKA total nearly 49 billion euros, with 32 billion of these relating to basic insurance debts and the rest relating to accumulation of overdue fees.

In a statement, Kerameus said that the regulation will "utilize experience, technical know-how, and up-to-date technological tools from the private sector," while the collected payments "may be utilized to improve services to the insured and to pensioners."