In 1898, the Cassa nazionale di previdenza per l'invalidità e la vecchiaia degli operai ('National Fund of Social Security for Disability and Old Age of the Workers') was founded as a voluntary association integrated with a contribute by State and entrepreneurs.

[1] In 1978 the National Healthcare Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale) was established and INPS had been charged of collecting illness contributions and pay the related benefits.

[7] INPS gives pensions and other social security services with taxes[8] derived for about the 70% from mandatory contributions for obligatory insurances and for the remaining 30% through direct transfers by the State.

The vigilance activity of INPS is aimed to control the precise payment of contributions according to the law as well as the compliance with the mandatory rules in benefit of the employee.

This plan premises an accurate analysis of the territory aimed to target the intervention areas and the kind of companies at high risk of evasion, as well as to define the commodity sectors to be considered for an inspection.

INPS performs often its inspective action jointly with labour inspectors, the Command of the Carabinieri for job tutelage, as well as INAIL, the Service for prevention and security in workplaces of public local healthcare companies and the Guardia di Finanza.

[17] However, the "private-sector assistance may be freely provided" but the article means that the social security tutelage for workers represents a fundamental purpose of the Italian State according to its Constitution.

This kind of social security organization based on public entities complies with the principles of European community rights.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has stated that a legal monopoly of social security entrusted to public entities does not represent an abuse of dominant position at all and therefore it is not disputable before the antitrust authorities according to the article 86 of the EU Treaty.

[19] The right to social security in the event of old age has not a specific or dedicated regulation but it is combined with the protection in cases like maternity, illness or accidents at work.