The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit was based on the Constitutional Court a lawsuit of unconstitutionality against Law 2468 of 2025, which modified Law 549 of 1999 on the operation of the National Fund of Pensionss Territorial entities (Fonpet) and the coverage of the pension liabilities of municipalities and departments.
In a 50 -page document, Minister Germán Ávila Plazas argues that the rule approved by the Congress violates several articles of the Constitution and organic norms, and that its implementation would affect the country’s fiscal sustainability, the finance of territorial entities and the stability of the pension system.
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One of the central points of the lawsuit is that the law does not know the principle of specialty in the legislative process; Since according to Ávila, the first debate must have occurred in the seventh commissions, competent in social security matters, and not in the third commissions, which are responsible for economic issues.
This irregularity, he maintains, violates articles 142, 151 and 157 of the Constitutionas well as provisions of Law 5 of 1992 and Law 3 of 1992.
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The Ministry also indicates that Congress approved the standard without the prior concept of fiscal impact required by Law 819 of 2003 and highlights that this requirement is fundamental, since it forces that any initiative that generates expense or tax benefits includes in its exposition of reasons the fiscal costs and sources of financing, something that did not happen.
In the Economic Front, the Treasury warns that several provisions of Law 2468 compromise the financial sustainability of Fonpet and the Nation. Among them, allow territorial entities to withdraw surpluses from the fund, reorient income for investment and anticipate the payment of the nation’s obligations.
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That said, they explained that this last point would force you to disburse $ 6.7 billion before December 2026, impacting the general budget and reducing the originally agreed deadlines.
Regional loads
The statement also alerts on a new burden for municipalities and districts, which must contribute 10% of their current income of free destination to the Fonpet and explain that this obligation, added to others already in force, would represent an annual cost of $ 3.6 billion and, if it was applied retroactively since 2006, it would reach $ 49.3 billion of 2024. For Bogotá, the annual impact is estimated at $ 1.2 billion.
Plenary of the House of Representatives in the Congress of the Republic.
Pedro Vargas
Another of the Treasury criticisms is the reduction of the FONPET administration expenses limitwhich goes from 8% to 1% of its annual yields. This, says the Ministry, would make it difficult to pay commissions to administrators, audit fees, support contracts and technological costs, since between 2013 and 2022, these expenses averaged 1.41% of the returns, so the measure would leave the fund without sufficient resources to operate, especially in years with low or negative yields.
The lawsuit also questions that the law prohibits using Fonpet resources to pay the pensioner payroll during the second semester of 2025. According to official calculations, this would prevent payment at 69,359 beneficiaries in 897 territorial entities, for a value close to $ 2 billion. Ávila warns that this measure violates acquired rights and breaks article 48 of the Constitution, which forces to guarantee the sustainability and timely payment of pension obligations.
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For these reasons, the Ministry of Finance not only requested that the Constitutional Court declare the unconstitutionality of Law 2468, but also provisionally suspend its effects while studying its exequibility and thus avoiding An immediate impact on the payment of pensions and national and territorial public finances.
Ávila emphasized that the Fonpet is a pillar of the pension stability of the territorial entities, and that any reform that affects it must strictly comply with the Constitution and guarantee clear and sustainable sources of financing and concluded that “we cannot allow legislative decisions to put at risk the financial stability of the pension system and timely payment to thousands of pensioners”.
Daniel Hernández Naranjo
Portfolio journalist
