The Finance Ministry has announced that starting in July, National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pension payments will now be paid from the first working day of every month to align with Old Age Pension (OAP) payments.
This move was taken by the Guyana Government in keeping with a commitment made by President Dr Irfaan Ali during an interaction with a pensioner on Tuesday in Lamaha Gardens, Georgetown.
“Leadership is about listening…I was doing a walkabout in Lamaha Gardens and a pensioner came to me and suggested that NIS and old age pension should be paid on the same day. We listened and we acted,” the Head of State said in a subsequent post on his Facebook page.
Consequently, Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, disclosed that he has instructed that the NIS pension be paid, effective from July 2023, on the first business day of every month.
“This is part of Government’s broader agenda to improve, modernise and streamline its service-delivery to citizens,” Dr Singh stated.
Since coming into office, the Ali-led People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has undertaken a slew of measures to date to enhance the operations of the NIS. These include NIS Online Contribution Checking System (OCCS) which is expected to reduce the incidents of inaccuracies, the WhatsApp life certificate hotline, WhatsApp Queries Textbook Service and NIS Live Chat.
Currently, NIS payments are made via the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC), commercial banks and at NIS local offices countrywide. Other payment options are currently being considered by Government.
Government recently expanded the payment options for OAP to include Mobile Money Guyana (MMG). This adds to the existing options of the GPOC, MoneyGram, Western Union, Sure Pay and commercial banks.
