Son La Province Social Security Agency:

The social security agency of the northern mountainous province of Sơn La has paid pension and social insurance allowances via bank accounts, improving convenience and saving time for receivers and minimising mistakes.

One of the receivers named Nhan said: “At first we found the payment via bank accounts strange but it’s now easy and convenient.”

“Me and my husband registered to receive our pension through ATM accounts in 2019. We receive the pension at the beginning of every month,” she said.

She said receiving the pension via a bank account during the pandemic helped ensure safety for beneficiaries. Receivers can use the pension in their accounts to pay off electricity, water bills or for online shopping.

Illustrative Photo (internet)

Nguyen Van Manh, from Chieng Sinh Ward, Son La City, said the biggest convenience was he no longer has to remember the pension payment schedule or tell others to get the pension for him.

“Changing the habit of using banknotes is difficult for old people like us. But after listening to post office staff explaining the benefits of pension payment via ATM accounts, especially the benefits of ensuring safety during the pandemic, I found it extremely convenient,” he said.

Speaking to Social Insurance magazine, Thieu Quang Ngai, director of Son La Province Social Security Agency, said pension or social insurance payments via ATM cards brought a lot of benefits to receivers including preventing employers appropriating or delaying the payment; saving time and effort; and protecting privacy.

“Thanks to the benefits, we have promoted cashless social and unemployment insurance payments. As of October 2021, about 15,307 people in the province, or 37.4 per cent of beneficiaries, have received different types of payment via cashless methods with total payment reaching almost VND504.5 billion,” he said.

Son La Province Social Security Agency has taken numerous measures including encouraging VssID app users to register payments through personal accounts and holding dissemination sessions.

The agency will continue to work with the employment service centre and local employers to encourage labourers to open personal bank accounts when they register for social insurance, Ngai said.

He said there needed to be the involvement of the administration at all levels to widely disseminate information on cashless payments and encourage people to join.

Illustrative Photo (internet)

Da Nang City Social Security Agency:

Despite challenges of COVID-19, Da Nang City Social Security Agency has so far collected over VND4.7 trillion of social and health insurance payment, meeting nearly 82 per cent of the assigned tasks.

According to Dinh Van Hiep, director of Da Nang City Social Security Agency, the agency predicted difficulties posed by the pandemic, therefore, since early this year, the agency consulted with the Standing Board of the municipal Party Committee to issue three resolutions on strengthening leadership and implementation of social and health insurance policies in the 2021-25 period.

On November 16, the city People’s Committee issued a document on promoting social and health insurance policy implementation, creating conditions for debt collection and ensuring labourers’ rights.

In order to realise targets of debt collection and expansion of the social and health insurance participant network, the agency has focused on various solutions including strengthening communication work to raise awareness on insurance law compliance of employers.

At the same time, the city social security agency and district-level social security agencies regularly supervise employers and ask them to pay social insurance and health insurance on time; publicise the list of units which owe social insurance and health insurance premiums on mass media; conduct unscheduled inspections of debt owners; and impose administrative punishments on violators.

Social Security Agency of Da Nang City

Despite the pandemic, Da Nang City Social Security Agency has maintained its activities in November and accomplished assigned tasks thanks to effective solutions.

In November alone, the agency had 386 new members of compulsory social insurance; 2,040 new members of voluntary social insurance and 3,281 new members of household health insurance.

Since earlier this year, the city has collected over VND4.7 trillion of insurance payment, meeting 82 per cent of the target.

There are 491,000 people users of the VssID app.

The city has launched supportive packages for 216,117 labourers affected by the pandemic with total assistance worth over VND516 billion.

According to Hiep, COVID-19 has severely affected economic development and posed direct impacts on the implementation of social insurance and health insurance policies, but professional departments and district-level social insurance agencies still performed the assigned tasks.

Social security agencies of Cam Le, Thanh Khe and Lien Chieu districts have completed the assigned tasks of 2021.

However, one of the problems is the number of people receiving lump-sum social insurance payments in the city is increasing, posing a great challenge to the goal of ensuring long-term social security. Meanwhile, the expansion of the voluntary social insurance, household health insurance and student health insurance participant network in some districts has not met requirements.

The director of the city Social Security Agency asked leaders of relevant units to focus on solutions and strive to reach targets and complete assigned tasks, especially meeting the targets of reducing debt and developing participants./.