Bangladesh getting universal pension in July

Bangladesh – like many of the developed nations across the globe – is finally getting a Universal Pension Scheme from July this year.

The Ministry of Finance has completed nearly every preparation for this initiative, and following approval from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, an inauguration ceremony to formally launch this scheme will be held next month, ministry sources say.

This service primarily be digital, and will be provided through an app called uPENSION. For this, the ministry is preparing a management system, which includes the necessary security measures.

Speaking to The Business Post, a senior official at the ministry on condition of anonymity said, “Six schemes of universal pension will be launched.

“Government employees and employees of autonomous organisations will not fall under the purview of this initiative as they are already under a pension facility provided by the government.”

Initially, expatriate Bangladeshis will get this facility. Besides, people with low income, including daily wage workers will also be included gradually.

The minimum monthly premium for this scheme will be TK 500. The maximum premium will be capped to ensure rational use of this facility. Besides, according to the plan, within 2041, all employees of government and private sectors will be brought under this pension scheme.

Providing more details, the ministry official said, “Various rules have already been drafted to launch this scheme. Besides, preparations have been made to negotiate with various organisations.

“Among these institutions, MoUs will soon be signed with Sonali Bank and Bangladesh Bank for financial management, Department of Immigration & Passports for expatriates’ data, Election Commission for NIDs, the Local Government Division for birth registration data, and Bangladesh Data Center Company Ltd for providing relevant services digitally.”

All preparations are expected to be completed within June, so that the service can be launched at the beginning of the new financial year in July.

A chairman for the National Pension Authority will be appointed soon, and he will sign the MoUs. In case of any delays in the appointment process, an officer of the rank of additional secretary at the finance ministry will sign these MoUs, the official added.

According to ministry sources, the fees and charges collected from the beneficiaries in the Public Pension Scheme and the money received from any other sources will be deposited online to the account of National Pension Authority.

For this purpose, a MoU will soon be signed with the National Pension Authority for use of Application Programming Interface (API) of Sonali Bank. The finance ministry had a meeting with the Bangladesh Bank and Sonali Bank in this regard last week, sources say.

During the meeting, a decision was made for an agreement between National Pension Authority and Bangladesh Data Center Company Limited (BDCCL) to provide digital pension facilities.

The MoU will ensure establishment of a database server for hosting uPENSION services. At the same time, it will ensure a disaster recovery site or management procedure with similar security features.

This MoU will be signed soon, and once it is signed, full-fledged operation to render digital services will be introduced by inaugurating uPENSION Hosting and database management.

Sources say the national ID (NID) will be the basis for Universal Pension Scheme services. Bangladeshi nationals staying abroad will also get the opportunity to avail this scheme, and expatiates will get priority.

In such cases, passports will be considered as the basis for availing pension services for these two categories of people. Bangladeshi citizens over the age of 18 – who do not have NIDs – can use their birth certificates to enroll in the scheme.

Ministry sources say under this scheme, a person will begin getting their pension after 60 years of age till the rest of their lives.

Though people aged over 18 to 50 years can avail this facility, citizens older than the stipulated age bracket can enroll in this scheme under special arrangements. A person has to deposit premiums for at least 10 years to be eligible for pension.

Ministry sources say an amendment could be made and a method would be included in the scheme to bring in people aged over 50 under the pension scheme.

If a pension beneficiary dies, his nominee will avail the facilities till the nominee turns 75. Besides, if a beneficiary dies before 60 years of age, his nominee will be allowed to withdraw the money and avail a one-time payout.

In such cases, the nominee will not get monthly pensions.