PenCom to encourage micro pension plan contributors with medical health insurance coverage

THE Nationwide Pension Fee (PenCom) says it’s strategizing to broaden its micro pension plan (MPP) with a medical health insurance incentive for contributors within the scheme.

Pencom mentioned the inducement was a part of its technique to get extra Nigerians enrolled into the scheme.

The Fee disclosed it has simplified the documentation course of for pensioners below the scheme to draw extra individuals from the casual sector.

The Director-Normal of PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, mentioned these at present in Abuja at a workshop for journalists.

The theme of the workshop, which was organised by the Fee, was, ‘Growing Casual Sector Participation within the Contributory Pension Scheme: The case for Micro Pension Plan.’

President Muhammadu Buhari had on April 27, 2019 formally launched the MPP as a part of his administration’s efforts at making certain that Nigerians who had labored exhausting throughout their lively years in service of their fatherland dwell in dignity and retire with none trigger for alarm.

The MPP was initiated by the Pencom to include staff within the casual sector of the financial system.

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For the reason that launch of the plan, over 72,846 contributors had been registered by Pension Fund Directors (PFAs).

The MPP, which targets a major majority of Nigeria’s working inhabitants who, by the way, function within the casual sector, was conceptualised to broaden pension protection to the casual sector, together with small-scale companies, entertainers, professionals, petty merchants and artisans.

Dahir-Umar mentioned the MPP was being applied to curb old-age poverty by helping staff to contribute whereas working and construct long-term financial savings to fall again on after they turn out to be outdated.

She mentioned the theme of the convention aligned with the Fee’s goal of increasing protection of the contributory pension scheme (CPS).

The purpose, she added, was to convey into the CPS Nigerians working within the casual sector of the financial system and those that are self-employed by way of the MPP.

She mentioned, “It’s of utmost significance to teach the media on the MPP and enlist your help to make the Plan well-liked amongst casual sector staff and the self-employed.

“The Fee is conscious of your vital function in disseminating factual data to its stakeholders. So, it’s crucial to consistently work together and inform you of current developments within the pension trade and a few of the Fee’s vital actions.

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“Strategic efforts to drive the Micro Pension Plan stay one of many necessary areas of focus of the Fee.

“To spice up confidence within the participation of the MPP, the Fee is strategising to offer incentives comparable to medical health insurance.”

The Pencom DG additionally mentioned that the Fee was implementing sequence of measures to enhance the pension scheme, noting {that a} revised regulation on the ‘Administration of Retirement and Terminal Advantages’ has been issued to PFAs for fast implementation.

The revised regulation mandates PFAs to make efforts to make sure that all documentation preparatory to the retirement of the account holder must be supplied and concluded inside a interval of 4 months previous to the date of retirement.

She defined that the regulation guides the method of accessing retirement and terminal advantages by pension contributors and retirees below the CPS.

The revised regulation states that retirees shall be allowed to entry extra lump sum after the cost of the preliminary lump sum supplied that there are extra inflows of funds into their retirement financial savings accounts (RSA) from the employers.

Nevertheless, the extra remittances shall first be utilized to enhance the pension as much as 50 per cent of the retiree’s last wage, whereas the stability could also be paid out as a lump sum.

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The place the retiree’s pension is already as much as 50 per cent of the ultimate wage, the retiree might select to gather all the extra remittances as a lump sum.

The place the extra influx into the RSA of a retiree-on-retiree life annuity is lower than N100,000, the quantity shall be paid straight into the retiree’s checking account, topic to the Fee’s approval.

The Pencom DG mentioned that to make sure strict adherence, the revised regulation is introducing administrative sanctions on PFAs who disregarded the provisions of the regulation.

“The sanctions are to make sure that PFAs promptly course of the cost of retirement advantages to retirees,” she added.

Dahir-Umar disclosed that pension fund sssets had grown to N14.27 trillion by June 30, 2022.

She reaffirmed the Fee’s dedication to creating consciousness and holding social dialogue on the workings of the CPS with related stakeholders in the direction of its easy implementation in Nigeria.