Tag: retirement pension scheme

Parliament debates lowering pension age

The parliament yesterday accepted for consideration a bill on lowering the pension age from 65 to 60 years.

The amendments proposed to the pension law by independent MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik was accepted unanimously with 56 votes in favour and sent to committee for review.

The deputy speaker also proposed amending the law to allow workers to withdraw from their savings after retiring at the age of 55.

During the debate on the legislation yesterday, some MPs noted that lowering the retirement age would make 6,000 more people eligible for the MVR5,000 a month old age pension, which would cost the government MVR30 million extra a month.

State institutions had opposed a proposal to lower the retirement age in 2012.

Meanwhile, government-sponsored legislation on national disasters was also accepted for consideration at yesterday’s sitting of parliament with 54 votes in favour.

The bill proposes the formation of a ‘national disaster council’ and specifies the role of state institutions in relief efforts and mitigating the effects of national disasters.

A national plan outlining preventive measures must be formulated every five years, the proposed law states.

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Amendment overturns mandatory enrolment of foreigners in pension scheme passed

The People’s Majlis has passed a bill to overturn the mandatory enrolment of expatriate workers in the pension scheme.

This amendment to the Pension Act was passed with 37 votes in favour, 7 votes against, and 7 abstentions, according to local media Sun Online.

The proposed amendment – submitted last month by Maavah MP Abdul Aziz Jamaal Abubakr – was welcomed by many expatriates who fear they will struggle to reclaim their contributions upon leaving the Maldives.

Article 12 of the Maldives Pension Act requires employers to enrol all employees, Maldivians and expatriates alike, in the retirement pension scheme. This requires employers to pay 7 percent of their salaries to the government pension fund.

The amendment bill argues that the majority of expatriate workers will move overseas to retire, defeating the purpose of the scheme. It will be enforced from the day it is ratified by the president and published in the government gazette, reported Sun.

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Private employers must join before April 15: Pension Office

All private businesses and employers must join the Maldives retirement pension scheme by April 15, the Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) announced today.

MPAO CEO Mohamed Hussein Manik told newspaper Haveeru that under pension regulations private enterprises has to register in two weeks in order to begin paying into the scheme from May onward.

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