Cap on total salary including food allowance for public officials under Law No. 153/2017

The High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania, in a decision binding on all courts under Article 521(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, admitted a referral from the Constanta Court of Appeal and ruled that, under the interpretation of Articles 11(4) and 18 of Law No. 153/2017 on the salary of public fund-paid personnel, the total salary income of a deputy mayor—including the food allowance—cannot exceed the monthly allowance for the vice-mayor position. This constitutional clarification resolves a dispute arising in administrative and fiscal litigation concerning the calculation limits for specific public sector salaries, establishing that the food allowance is not an extra-budgetary benefit but part of the total salary cap. The decisive legal basis is the statutory provision in Law No. 153/2017, which mandates that the sum of all salary components, specifically including the food allowance, must not surpass the established monthly allowance limit for the vice-mayor rank.