By David Akinmola
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) is set to clamp down on pension-defaulting employers even as 35 firms paid a total penalty of N210.68 million in the second quarter of the year.
The commission revealed details of the penalties in its second-quarter report obtained from its website.
The report said the commission maintained the services of 25 recovery agents (RAs) for the recovery of unremitted pension contributions and penalties from defaulting employers.
During the quarter, N336.255 million comprising principal contributions of N125.57 million was also recovered from 35 employers.
Meanwhile, the Commission Secretariat/Legal Advisory Services Department has been urged to take legal action against three defaulting employers. From the beginning of the recovery exercise in June 2012 to June 2024, N27.97 billion comprising principal contributions of N13.6 billion and penalties (N14.17 billion) was recovered from defaulting employers.
The exercise by the RAs has encouraged at least 38,551 employers across the country to obtain pension and insurance coverage for their workers.
The employers were issued compliance certificates, enabling them to do business with the Federal Government.
PenCom, in its compliance guidelines for life insurance policies for employees and submission of insurance certificates issued to employers, states that companies that had no insurance cover for their workers would be allowed to handle any government business.
The regulation is to ensure that companies have appropriate pension accounts for the workers.
“In that regard, the commission issues yearly pension clearance certificates to eligible organisations,” it states.
