Insurance number

The basic identifier of clients of the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA) – employees or self-employed persons – is the insurance number. A person’s insurance number is usually birth number, or if not assigned, the insured person’s registration number. When communicating with the CSSA, one must always state their personal identification number or the insured person’s registration number; it allows for the retrieval of necessary data from information systems and facilitates file documentation.

Both numbers are used in the area of pension and sickness insurance (for registration and insurance payments, when applying for a benefit and its payment) and serve as an identifier in other agendas within the CSSA’s competence. It facilitates communication between the CSSA and employers and attending physicians, and between the CSSA and self-employed persons.

The personal identification number (i.e. Czech birth number) is assigned by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. This is regulated by Act No 133/2000, on records of population and birth numbers and amending certain acts (Act on Records of Population), as amended, and by Decree No 296/2004, implementing the Act on Records of Population, as amended.

More information on assigning personal identification numbers to foreigners can be found at:

https://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/prideleni-rodneho-cisla-931400.aspx or

https://mv.gov.cz/mvcren/docDetail.aspx?docid=21656891&doctype=ART or

https://mv.gov.cz/clanek/novy-imigracni-portal-ministerstva-vnitra.aspx 

The insured person’s registration number is assigned by the CSSA for a temporary period to foreigners who do not yet have an assigned personal identification number. The above registration number is intended only for the internal registration of the insured person within the CSSA information system and it expires once the personal identification number is assigned. The client does not submit an application for the registration number himself or herself. The initiative to assign the registration number to a person without a personal identification number (e.g. a self-employed person, benefit applicant, etc.) is submitted by the locally competent DSSA upon registration, submission of an application, etc. when such person provides an identity card, proof of place of birth, etc. In the case of employees, the registration number is allocated without an application based on the employer’s report of commencement of employment. The CSSA issues a document on the allocation of the registration number, which is sent to the insured person to the address he or she provided and, in the case of employees, also to the address of the employer’s registered office.

If a personal identification number is assigned to such client by the Ministry of the Interior, that client must communicate this information to the relevant DSSA, or the CSSA headquarters, by submitting proof of the personal identification number assignment.

A birth number (RČ) is an identifier assigned by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic to the following persons:

• a natural person at birth or upon adoption (if a minor);
• a citizen who has not previously been assigned a birth number;
• a foreign national with a residence permit in the Czech Republic;
• a foreign national granted international protection in the Czech Republic in the form of asylum or subsidiary protection;
• a foreign national who has applied for a birth number in order to meet the conditions laid down by special legislation (e.g. for university studies, employment, etc.);
• a natural person for whom the Czech Social Security Administration or a District Social Security Administration has applied for the assignment of a birth number under special legislation.

In the Czech Republic, a birth number is used by a range of institutions and organisations for various administrative and legal purposes. Its main users include state and public administration bodies, healthcare providers, educational institutions, financial institutions, and employers.

An insured person’s registration number (EČP) is a temporary identifier assigned by the CSSA only to persons who do not have a birth number. It is used for the internal registration of an insured person in the CSSA Register of Insured Persons and for communication with employers. The EČP ceases to be valid once a birth number has been assigned and recorded in the CSSA Register of Insured Persons. 

A personal identification number (OIČ) is a numerical identifier assigned by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic (MoLSA) for the purposes of the information systems of social services. An OIČ does not contain or encode any personal data. It is anonymous and serves solely to uniquely identify a person within MoLSA systems in connection with the single monthly employer report. An OIČ is assigned when a natural person is first registered by an employer as an employee in the Employee Register.

For communication with clients and institutions, the birth number or the insured person’s identification number continues to be used.

Examples of use:

• birth number (RČ) – communication within state and public administration, health care, etc.;
• insured person’s registration number (EČP) – communication only within the CSSA (an internal CSSA identifier);
• personal identification number (OIČ) – internal records in MoLSA systems and communication with employers within the framework of the single monthly employer report.