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Chuks Udo Okonta
A Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) that fails; neglects or refuses to enlighten a retiree on the features of Programmed Withdrawal (PW) and Retirement Life Annuity (RLA) to enable the retiree make an informed decision shall be liable for an
administrative sanction of N500,000.00, the National Pension Commission (PenCom), has said.
PenCom stated this under the administrative sanctions,in its Revised Regulation on the Administration of Retirement and Terminal Benefits, adding that where a PFA delays payment of retirement benefits for up to five working days after receipt of no-objection from the Commission, it shall pay an administrative sanction of N200,000.00 and N20,000.00 for every day of delay thereafter.
The pension sector regulator noted that a PFA and/or Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) that pays retirement benefits without the Commission’s prior no-objection shall pay an administrative sanction of N1,000,000.00, submitting that this is in addition to refunding either the principal amount so paid or lost investment income thereof, whichever is higher.
It said a PFA that pays an amount in excess of that specified on the no-objection approval granted by the Commission shall be liable to refund the amount overpaid and
investment income lost arising from the transaction, except where the difference is
a residual amount or as a result of return on investment.
Any PFA that pays an amount lower than that specified on the no-objectionapproval granted by the Commission, shall, in addition to paying the differential to the retiree, pay an administrative sanction of N500,000.00, it said.
PenCom submitted that any PFA that negligently submits to the Commission, a request with incorrect information that is likely to result to accelerated depletion of the RSA balance of a retiree, shall pay an administrative sanction of N500,000.00, stressing that in addition, the PFA
shall refund to the RSA both the amount that was overpaid and the lost investment
income.
Any PFA that negligently submits to the Commission, a request with incorrect
information and later request the permission of the Commission to resubmit the
request, shall pay an administrative sanction of N100,000.00 per RSA, it posited.
The regulator said where a PFA delays the submission of a request for the payment of benefits by a retiree/beneficiary(ies) to the Commission for approval for more than 10 working days from the date of submission of relevant documents, it shall pay an
administrative sanction of N200,000.00 and N20,000.00 for every further day of delay thereafter.
It stated that any violation of any provision of this regulation for which no sanction has been prescribed shall attract an administrative sanction of not more than N2,000,000.00.
All sanctions in this regulation shall be charged to the Operator’s Profit and Loss
account and the burden shall not be transferred to the employees of the Operators, stating that any violation of this provision shall attract an administrative sanction of five times the initial sanction amount.
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