'NOT YET IMPLEMENTED' - EPF denies won't pay dividends to members above 75

PETALING JAYA - The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) may decide not to implement its 2008 policy of not paying dividends to account holders above the age of 75.

The fund said yesterday it is amending the EPF Act 1991 "to ensure that members receive a stream of income from their savings, even after they retire".

Commenting on theSun's front page story titled "Zero dividends" which raised an outcry over the issue, the EPF clarified that it had yet to implement the policy and that all members who have savings in the fund, including those aged 75 and above, have been receiving their due dividends.

theSun reported yesterday that there are some 260,000 contributors aged above 75, who may have been earning zero dividends, because of the policy.

Admitting, however, that there is a policy to that effect, an EPF spokesman said this was why the fund has been advising members who have reached the age of 75 to take their money from the fund.

In a post in the EPF website dated Oct 10, 2012 the fund said members who have attained the age of 75 are encouraged to withdraw all their savings as after aged 75, no dividend will be paid.

EPF said the policy has not been implemented other than to encourage members to be aware of the risk of their money being transferred to unclaimed moneys if they are not utilised.

Among those who raised an outcry yesterday was former transport ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, currently a corporate adviser to the Sunway Group, who still works and contributes to the fund at the age of 79.

"It's unfair to deny senior citizens of their annual dividend," said Navaratnam, who is also the National Unity Consultative Council's inclusive development committee chairman.

"If ever EPF decides to change its policy or Act to not pay its contributors after a certain age, then it must inform them individually. Many people at that elderly age do not usually keep abreast of developments on the internet and thus it's better to inform them so that they can make a decision," he said.

Navaratnam added that he was not aware of the 2008 policy.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Mohd Khalid Atan said he was also unaware of the policy as it was never raised at EPF meetings he had been attending since 2011.

"Now that I am aware of this, I will raise this issue, and call for a review of the policy as it involves workers and their contribution," he said.

Former MTUC president Tan Sri Zainal Rampak had on Sunday called for a review of the policy which he described as unfair.

"EPF uses the contributors' money to invest and gain much more. We all know that the government uses funds from EPF for the nation's development. They owe the workers for this," he had said.

A few contributors over the age of 75, when contacted, said they have yet to check their annual statement to verify if they were paid dividends. -Sundaily