–urges the remainder to come onboard with digital technology
-as Govt digitising all NIS processes
During his feature address at today’s ceremony to mark 57 years since the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) was established, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, while noting that from 2020 to date the number of pensioners who receive their pension directly into their bank account has grown from just over 11,000 to over 20,000 persons, applauded those who took the step to have the payment made to their bank accounts.
“But I want to say, there are out there more than 40,000 pensioners who have not made this decision. You could be saving yourself the financial cost and the inconvenience associated with physically going to collect a pension book and associated with physically going to encash a pension voucher, by taking the simple step of getting your pension paid into your bank account,” he urged.
The finance minister pointed out as well that government in line with its digitisation policy, will shortly be digitising all processes at the scheme following which persons will be able to interact with the NIS from the comfort of their own homes.
“We live in a world where digital technology now allows us, using not even fancy tools, using basic information and communications technology, that allows us to interrogate and process data in a very different way, holding vast potential for improving the operations of the Scheme and improving the quality of its service to citizens,” Dr. Singh added.
He posited that no one therefore would need to join a line to collect their NIS pension and can simply send in their Life Certificate through whatts app and the pension (once the person has a bank account) will go directly into the account.
Minister Singh then homed in on the point that in addition to government’s digitisation of government services policy, the administration’s focus is on financial inclusion.
“Another concept that our President has been promoting, and we included in our manifesto in the run-up to the 2025 elections, is the concept of financial inclusion. Because we want every single citizen to have access to financial services, to be able to have a bank account. Because increasingly, that’s the direction in which we are going: the use of bank accounts and the use of digital technology to execute payments instantaneously,” he emphasised.
Minister Singh reminded that the overwhelming majority of government salaries are paid directly into bank accounts.
“Gone are the days when you have to line up and collect a pay packet or a cheque and then line up again and go to the bank to deposit your cheque and then line up again to withdraw your money from the bank. Of course, those lines still exist. but they don’t need to, because there exists already digital technology that eliminates the need for this,” he reiterated.
As to the soon-to-be digitisation of the Scheme’s processes Minister Singh noted that this has been mandated by President Ali and Guyana has to join the rest of the modern world in this aspect.
“You must be able to apply for a registration digitally. You must be able to, if you’re an employer or a self-employed person, submit your monthly returns digitally. You must be able to pay your contributions digitally. You must be able to check your NIS contribution record from the convenience of your home, digitally, or anywhere, for that matter. You must be able to submit your claims for benefits digitally, and you must be able to track the process of your claims digitally. This is not rocket science. There are other places in the world where this kind of service and quality of service is now very routine,” he added.
Further, as he turned to persons currently contributing to the Scheme, the Minister urged that they ensure that the deductions on their behalf are being paid over to the NIS and that they request their contribution statements ensuring they are up to date and not wait until they are sixty years old to do so. He also urged NIS to ensure that each employer receives a yearly statement of the persons for whom contributions were paid.
Minister Singh then called on the NIS employees themselves to ensure that they provide citizen-friendly services to the public reminding that government has a zero policy for services that are not citizen-friendly.
He then congratulated the Scheme on its 57th anniversary prior to handing over long service awards to a number of employees and bursary awards to students who excelled at the CSEC and CAPE examinations.
Also delivering remarks during the anniversary celebrations was General Manager of the NIS Ms. Holly Greaves.