KUALA LUMPUR – The government has been urged to introduce a reward system for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members who consistently contribute to the voluntary contribution programme i-Saraan to address the issue of social protection coverage in the informal and self-employed segments.
Alpine Advisory Sdn Bhd director Rozanna Rashid, who made the recommendation, said the move would also attract more new contributors from the targeted segments.
“To incentivise more gig workers, self-employed individuals, part-time workers and even housewives to save for their retirement needs, i-Saraan should be continued and perhaps enhanced by the government.
“In addition to continuously rewarding consistent savers by contributing the existing special incentive directly into their EPF account, the i-Saraan scheme could be enhanced to include an increasing rate of incentives for those who consistently contribute annually,” she told Bernama.
According to Rozanna, an annual EPF dividend that is compounding in nature would help contributors to achieve higher retirement savings in the long run.
The EPF introduced the i-Saraan initiative in 2018 to encourage those who are self-employed and do not earn a regular income to contribute within their means voluntarily.
The government extended the i-Saraan programme for 2023, increasing the maximum limit of the matching contribution incentive for the year from RM250 to RM300 annually. – Bernama, October 3, 2023
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