The pensionado discounts of Panama: law, not marketing, with the conditions attached
25 percent on flights and restaurants, 50 percent on hotels from Monday to Thursday, 25 percent on electricity up to 600 kWh and on water up to B/. 30, 20 percent on medicines and consultations: the discounts of Law 6 of 1987 are legally enforceable, and ACODECO publishes the list and the complaint form. But every discount has a condition, and ACODECO's interpretation rules decide where it stops.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, as a retiree you really get a discount in Panama, and not as a favour. Law 6 of 16 June 1987 fixes the percentages. The consumer authority ACODECO enforces them with a complaint form and inspections.
ACODECO publishes its own list, with two things the lists online miss:
- 20 percent on bills from private hospitals;
- the rule that a permanent resident without a pension also falls under the law.
The pitfall is that every discount has a condition. ACODECO lays down precisely in its interpretation criteria where the discount stops: a panadería (bakery) is not a restaurant, and a centro de salud (a state health centre) gives nothing.
Who does the law apply to?
The law applies to two groups:
- everyone living in Panama who is retired, of whatever nationality;
- in addition, women from 55 and men from 60.
You show your cédula (the Panamanian identity card) or your pensionado card. ACODECO adds that a natural person with the status of permanent resident, granted by the immigration service, enjoys the same benefits. The residence card is therefore your key, and pensionado status opens the rights regardless of your age.
Which percentages are in the list?
| Category | Discount | Condition from the source |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | 25% | according to ACODECO on the transport |
| Bus, boat, train | 30% | intercity; not within Panama City and San Miguelito |
| Hotels, motels, guesthouses | 50% Mon-Thu, 30% Fri-Sun | all-inclusive: 20% and 12% |
| Restaurants | 25% | real restaurants; snack bars and bakeries not, unless they serve full meals |
| Fast-food chains (franchise) | 15% | only franchises registered with the MICI; otherwise 25% |
| Recreation and entertainment | 50% | cinema, theatre, sport |
| Electricity | 25% | up to 600 kWh per month |
| Water | 25% | up to B/. 30; home in your own name and main residence |
| Telephone | 25% | |
| Consultations, medical and surgical services | 20% | not at a state centro de salud |
| Medicines | 20% | on prescription; supplements only if prescribed |
| Private hospitals and clinics | 20% | |
| Dentist, optometry | 15% | also an eye test by an ophthalmologist |
| Physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy | 20% | |
| Mortgage | 1 percentage point of interest | |
| Closing costs of loans | 50% | |
| Personal and business loans | 15% | |
| Passport, airport tax | 50% | |
| Funeral | 20% |
Where does the discount stop?
ACODECO's interpretation criteria were written for internal use, but they are online and they are the best map there is. A few rules that decide practice:
- For a double room of which one guest is a pensionado, the price is halved and that half gets the discount.
- Drinks ordered with the main meal count; a dessert on its own with coffee does not.
- A pizza or a whole chicken to take away falls under the discount. The hot chicken from the supermarket does not, because a supermarket is not a restaurant.
- A restaurant in a food court gives 25 percent as long as it does not prove it is a registered franchise.
- Hairdressers fall outside the law.
- The state health centre gives no discount, because its rate is already subsidised.
What does the discount mean for your home?
Two discounts attach to the home itself, and both require it to be in your name:
- Water. The water discount of IDAAN, the water company, applies to a home you own, that serves as your main residence and is residential: 25 percent on consumption up to B/. 30 (the balboa, on a par with the dollar), above that the normal rate.
- Increase in value. The ministry of public works freezes for a pensionado the contribución de mejoras por valorización, the contribution an owner pays when public works raise the value of the plot.
For the second you submit a statement from the Registro Público (the public register) that the home is your only property, plus your pension decision. Processing takes about fifteen days.
Put the connections in your own name. Anyone renting a home where water and electricity are in the landlord's name leaves the utility discounts on the table. Discuss that before you sign; how a rental contract in Panama works is in renting in Panama.
What do you do if a business refuses?
You fill in ACODECO's complaint form, with the name and address of the business. Or you report it via the virtual assistant or the number 311. In its list ACODECO also names businesses without a sign giving discount information and utility companies that give no priority. If it concerns a bank, the Superintendencia de Bancos, the banking regulator, likewise refers you to ACODECO for the Law 6 discounts. In practice, showing the card is usually enough; the form is there for the exception.
For your budget the sum is simple. Apply the percentages from the table to your own spending, and not to an average. What else comes your way in the first weeks is in the step-by-step plan for Panama.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Panama or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Panamá Digital — ACODECO, the list of discounts of Law 6 of 1987 and the complaint form — panamadigital.gob.pa
- ACODECO — the interpretation criteria for Law 6 of 1987, per discount category — tableroquejas.acodeco.gob.pa
- Panamá Digital — IDAAN, the discount on water (25 percent up to B/. 30, home in your own name) — panamadigital.gob.pa
- Panamá Digital — MOP, the freezing of the improvement contribution for a pensionado's only home — panamadigital.gob.pa
- Superintendencia de Bancos — complaints about the Law 6 discounts at banks go through ACODECO — superbancos.gob.pa
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