Informal sector urged to embrace tier-3 pension scheme

The National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA), has urged workers in the informal sector to register onto the tier-three pension scheme to secure their future.

This, according to NPRA, will enable informal sector workers to contribute towards a better life after active years of service.

Kofi Anokye Owusu-Darko, Chief Executive Officer of NPRA said this in Tamale at a NPRA outreach programme on the tier-three pension scheme. The event was aimed at educating and sensitising the informal sector and entrepreneurs in the Northern Region on the need to embrace the scheme.

By contributing to the scheme, NPRA added, will also help avoid the practice of depending on family or others during retirement.

“The Third Tier Pension scheme is meant for you. Enrolling onto the scheme will also secure your financial autonomy, this will make people engaged in the informal sector less-dependent during old age,” he said.

The country’s informal sector constitutes about 80 per cent of the economy. It is therefore necessary to increase awareness about the scheme’s existence and why it is important for the informal sector to embrace it.

The scheme is designed in a way to ensure that no matter the nature of one’s work, they can register and contribute monthly, weekly or on any convenient terms.

Additionally, persons in the informal sector who are not covered by the mandatory schemes will have 35 percent of their declared income exempt from tax for joining the scheme.

Emmanuel Awuku Dagbanu, Corporate Affairs Manager at NPRA, assured contributors that they can access their benefits even before retirement or during any financial difficulty.

Mr. Dagbanu further explained that workers are allowed to also contribute to the scheme as organised groups, adding that “new technology has been introduced to enable contributors to access and send their contribution via mobile money transactions.”

The Corporate Affairs Manager added that the Authority will continue to embark on the outreach exercise to ensure that a majority of the informal sector understand the essence of the scheme.