LATE last year, Josua’s father passed away. Josua, who has been working for almost seven years, the past five years for a distribution firm, needed to withdraw his savings to help fund his father’s funeral expenses.
However, when Josua visited our office he was informed that his eligibility was low as the fund had not received any contributions from his employer for the past five years. The last contributions received were from his previous employer.
“I kept insisting that the FNPF officer was reading my statement wrongly. My pay slips have always shown that $12.50 per week was deducted for my retirement savings,” Josua said.
“My account was checked and re-checked, but my balance and eligibility remained as it was. I was then referred to the employers department, where I lodged my complaint. I was tired and angry because I so needed the money and I could not do much. I usually do not keep my pay slips so I had no evidence to fall back on.”
After due checks and process, the officer that served Josua at employers (the department responsible for receiving and distributing FNPF contributions) then checked the fund’s Suspense Account.
This is the account in which unidentified contributions are deposited. Contributions are deposited into the suspense when insufficient information is received regarding the owners of these funds or when information submitted by employers differs from those held by FNPF.
“I was informed that there were some payments made by my employer that were in the suspense account. After further verification that took a few more hours, it was determined that my funds were in this account but registered under a slightly different name. My account was then reviewed and updated and I was eventually allowed to withdraw under funeral grounds.”
Josua is not alone. But he is fortunate that his funds were with FNPF but in the suspense account. Josua’s funds were submitted to FNPF under his nickname, Josh, and a shortened surname.
This is why, it is important for members to ensure that they proactively provide their employers with a copy of their birth certificates so that their contributions are submitted to FNPF under their legally-recognised names. For those using their spouses’ names, their marriage certificates should accompany their birth certificates.
Birth certificates are a crucial document for obtaining legal documents such as passports, driving licences and Joint FNPF/FRCA ID cards. It is also important for FNPF purposes.
Other members have not been as lucky as Josua. Further checks have revealed that their funds are not in our suspense account; nor was it received by FNPF. Such cases, are referred for investigation and may result in prosecution.
There are other unfortunate members, whose employers flee the country without notice and abscond on paying their FNPF contributions.
In this week’s article we will discuss important information related to your responsibility as a member, specifically on how you can check your FNPF balance.
It is our hope that at the end of this article, our members will know of the different avenues available to allow them to check their FNPF balance, avoiding what Josua and other less fortunate than him, went through.
One resounding issue that we hear at our annual member forums is the issue about non-payment of contributions.
Members who come to these forums usually demand the fund to recover these unpaid contributions.
In a majority of these cases, members are left “high and dry” because they find out too late that their contributions were not paid. Like Josua, these members, only find these out when they come to our offices to withdraw their funds under approved withdrawal grounds.
While the FNPF is empowered by law to recover these unpaid contributions, the court process can be lengthy and tedious. It may take months, even years, before employers pay the unpaid contributions. Some employers have still not met their obligations and our members have suffered.
Currently the total unpaid contributions is $6.7 million. Funds sitting in our suspense account is $6.5m.
While FNPF will do all it can to recover the unpaid contributions and distribute funds under suspense, it is our duty as members to regularly check our accounts to see that our contributions have been paid.
While your wage/pay slip may indicate that your FNPF has been deducted, this is no assurance that these funds have been paid to the FNPF.
Members need to check with FNPF that your funds have truly and really been deposited to your accounts. Again, you can only confirm this if you check your balance with us.
As members of FNPF, one important duty you have is to ensure that contributions being paid in by your employer, are paid to FNPF.
Over the years, FNPF has developed a number of ways in which members can check their balance and account transactions. These usually do not require them to travel to our offices.
Advancement in technological development means that you can access your account information from literally anywhere in the world that has internet and data access. That’s why we’ve introduced a range of mobile and online services that allows you to access your account details. This is all part of our commitment to serve you better! We discuss these avenues in the next few paragraphs.
MyFund
MyFund is a value adding service that allows member to check their account balances and eligibilities on their mobile phones.
Benefits:
* Time saving: you don’t have to visit an FNPF office, you can check your account balance and eligibilities when you are on the go;
* Convenient: you can access your account information regardless of where you are; anytime, anywhere;
* Secure: has security guarantee feature such as your FNPF number and a pin number that you can reset any time. Information accessed through MyFund is not stored on your mobile phone;
* Easy access to your account: you are able to access your balance and eligibilities even beyond the normal working hours as its available all the time;and
* Ideal: easy and convenient especially for members in the rural areas.
Who can access myFund?
Members whose mobile numbers are registered with FNPF can access this service immediately. If you receive a message stating your mobile number is not registered, you will need to visit any of the FNPF offices to register your number.
Currently this service is only available to Vodafone and Inkk users.
How to register for myFund?
* Complete the 3W/M myFund and Website Registration Amendment Form
* Provide a copy of your Joint ID card or passport or valid photo ID
* Provide your personal Vodafone or Inkk mobile number
* How to access myFund?
* Dial *567#
* Enter your FNPF number
* Enter a new four-digit PIN
* Re-enter your PIN
* Enter yes
Online Services
This service allows members to view their
* Statement of account — this will show all debit and credit transactions made to your account
* Eligibility statement — this shows your general eligibility, which covers housing, education, medical, funeral, unemployment grounds.
Members need to complete the online registration form and provide supporting documents as stated in the form inclusive of a valid photo identification card, original birth certificate and your TIN letter, if you do not provide as your photo identification the Joint FNPF/FRCA TIN card.
Members are then required to submit the completed form and required identification, at any FNPF branch or agency so that you could be registered for this service.
Phone services
You can also check your balance by calling our office on 3307811 (Suva/Nausori/Valelevu), 6661888 (Lautoka/Nadi/Sigatoka), 8812111 (Labasa) and 8853396 (Savusavu). You will be asked several security questions — to ascertain your identity before FNPF can release this information to you.
Email services
The same is true also for those who want to email info@fnpf.com.fj; after routine security questions, the Fund will be able to provide you with information related to your account.
Visit any of our branches or agencies
Members are also welcome to visit any of our branches and agencies to get your statement or even check your eligibilities.
Remember, it is your right as a member to get information about your account. It is best that you do this on a regular basis, rather than check it after several years and encounter what Josua went through.
Our members can help us ensure that your retirement savings are secure and in your account by checking it regularly and informing us if there are irregularities in your statement.
