PenCom, the National Pension Commission, ensures the recovery of unremitted pension contributions by fining businesses who fail to pay employee pension contributions as and when due. The fine sum shall be recovered as an unpaid obligation and deposited into the employee’s RSA.
In June 2012, Recovery Agents (RAs) were chosen to begin collecting unpaid pension contributions. The Commission orders Recovery Agents to follow up with the defaulting employers to make sure that unpaid pension contributions are remitted.
Therefore, recovering pension contributions doesn’t cost RSA holders anything. The process of recovering employer pension contributions is ongoing, but the Commission has largely succeeded in doing so for both primary contributions and appropriate fines. In the meantime, since the June 2012 start of the rehabilitation exercise to 31 March 2023, the Commission has recovered N24.53 billion (contributions of N12.44 billion and penalties of N12.09 billion) from defaulting employers.
In conclusion, PenCom encourages employees to report employers who are not remitting pension contributions or are not paying the correct rates (10 per cent employer and 8 per cent employee) as specified in the PRA 2014.