Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) has launched the
Electronic Pension Contribution Collection System (EPCCOS), which will
henceforth enable employers remit their employees' contributions
online.
The Chairman Subcommittee on EPCCOS and Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer, UBA Pension Fund Custodian, Bayo Yusuf, at the official launch of the new system
in Lagos, said the platform will help improve compliance and enhance confidence in pension collection and remittance.
Officer, UBA Pension Fund Custodian, Bayo Yusuf, at the official launch of the new system
in Lagos, said the platform will help improve compliance and enhance confidence in pension collection and remittance.
He said: "For us it would improve compliance, because employers before
now said one of their complaints has been dealing with 21 pension fund
administrators
and four pension fund custodians. With this single platform, employers can now do everything from the comfort of their offices without going anywhere."
and four pension fund custodians. With this single platform, employers can now do everything from the comfort of their offices without going anywhere."
According to him, the system t is a value addition for the industry adding, "we have created
value for the employer to make compliant easier. So, employers can now do remittance, upload schedule and make payment with ease, and the ultimate beneficiary is the employee.
He said with the new system, the account of the employee is to be credited within 24 hours
In line with the Pension Act.
"With this platform, when the employer remits the
contributions, the employee gets the alert and within 24 hours the account is credited and alert sent to the employee. For me that is a plus and it will enhance confidence in the system, the UBA pension boss stated.
value for the employer to make compliant easier. So, employers can now do remittance, upload schedule and make payment with ease, and the ultimate beneficiary is the employee.
He said with the new system, the account of the employee is to be credited within 24 hours
In line with the Pension Act.
"With this platform, when the employer remits the
contributions, the employee gets the alert and within 24 hours the account is credited and alert sent to the employee. For me that is a plus and it will enhance confidence in the system, the UBA pension boss stated.
On his part,PenOp's Executive Secretary, Susan Oranye, noted that the
system has stemmed the major challenge affecting the contributory
pension scheme, which is compliance.
She said the platform would enable employers process employees salaries, taxes and pension seamlessly.
"For quite awhile, PenOp has been working very closely with the
Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to structure a platform
that would make
compliance for employers that have embraced the CPS easier. One of the key challenges facing the CPS is compliance, we have cases where employers feel it is unnecessary expense to register their employees on the CPS even though the law requires them to, if they have three or more employees, there are
some who remit their contributions in a half hazard way.
compliance for employers that have embraced the CPS easier. One of the key challenges facing the CPS is compliance, we have cases where employers feel it is unnecessary expense to register their employees on the CPS even though the law requires them to, if they have three or more employees, there are
some who remit their contributions in a half hazard way.
"They will remit the funds, but would fail to remit the required schedules
or they would do it in such away that the information will be wrong, the
fund would not be credited to the employees' RSA and there would be a slow build up of unreconciled funds laying with PFCs. Meanwhile, the employees would not know that the amounts have not entered their accounts.
or they would do it in such away that the information will be wrong, the
fund would not be credited to the employees' RSA and there would be a slow build up of unreconciled funds laying with PFCs. Meanwhile, the employees would not know that the amounts have not entered their accounts.
"There is also the issue of filing forms manually and taking them to
the PFAs. All these things serve to deter employers and make them
unhappy with the process, and this has been one of the key challenges of
the CPS."
She said the operators having examined the challenges encountered by
the employers in remitting their employees' contributions, decided to
tackle it
with the electronic platform.
with the electronic platform.
"Now PenOp has taken into cognizance the challenges and issues that
employers are facing and we said if there are other platforms where funds can be remitted with their payment schedules to difference banks on behalf of different beneficiaries, and it has worked in the country, why can't we
do something like that regarding pension remittance. Why can't we make things easier for employers.
employers are facing and we said if there are other platforms where funds can be remitted with their payment schedules to difference banks on behalf of different beneficiaries, and it has worked in the country, why can't we
do something like that regarding pension remittance. Why can't we make things easier for employers.
"With this platform, employers can now pay their salaries, taxes and pension at the same time seamlessly," she said.
Susan maintained that the platform is user friendly, self service
electronic system for pension collection and makes the uploading and
transferring of schedules and contributions so much easier for the
employer.
Culled from Thisday
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