FNPF Pleads for Members’ Patience
The Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) is pleading with members who have applied for COVID-19 assistance to be patient.
Fund chief executive, Jaoji Koroi, has stressed there is a huge volume of applications and their teams are trying their best to process these withdrawals.
However, he said there are delays which is beyond their control with the fund grappling with some issues in the application forms received and are trying to rectify this.
Early this week, the fund confirmed that a total of $8.36 million has been paid of which $1.22m was paid by Government and $7.14m paid by the Fund.
Out of the 10,670 members who have accessed their funds for COVID-19, 2,778 were assisted by Government. requirements with their completed applications.
■ Employers not submitting required documents with the members’ application forms.
■ Forms dropped off at FNPF offices undergoing a 48 hours quarantine period before staff can process;
■ Incomplete forms received will require FNPF to verify by contacting employers;
■ Verification for members whose FNPF contributions have not been paid;
■ Bank account verification as result of relaxing the bank statement requirement;
■ Incorrect withdrawal form filled by the member.
“Members can rest assured that their applications will be processed if they are eligible,” Mr Koroi said. The processing time for COVID-19 applications is 5 to 7 working days but could be longer due to the reasons highlighted above.
“We are requesting for members understanding. We empathise with all our members and only if we work together, then the process will be smoother,” Mr Koroi said.
For members who are currently unemployed, they can apply through the Fund’s normal Unemployment Assistance which will require them to submit their application within six months from being terminated or laid off.
The maximum amount for this assistance is $1000, depending on the members General Account eligibility.
FNPF continues to discourage all members from crowding its offices unnecessarily, advising that the forms will be with Employers and no distribution or submission of forms will be done manually at its offices.
“We have to bear in mind the physical distancing restriction and I urge all members to please comply with the safety regulations that have been activated at our branches,” Mr Koroi said.
FNPF will continue to update its members through the media and social media.