[Photo: Supplied]

The Fiji National Provident Fund says that while its Employers Portal now processes almost all employer contributions, compliance challenges continue to exist.

FNPF General Manager Member Services Alipate Waqairawai says the digital platform has significantly improved efficiency and monitoring of employer contributions, but no system can completely eliminate compliance gaps.

About 98 percent of employer contributions are now processed through the Employers Portal, reflecting a major shift towards digital payment management and automated contribution processing.

The online platform automatically processes payments every payday, reducing manual workload and improving tracking of employer contributions.

Waqairawai says FNPF is continuing to strengthen its compliance and monitoring systems to address gaps that remain.

“That’s why we are strengthening our compliance and our checking system because there will always be gaps, and one of the innovations that we have done is the implementation of the employers portal”

He says the Fund is also working closely with the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service to strengthen oversight and improve the detection of non-compliant employers.

“This is automatically done every payday, but that does not stop our attempts to improve our efficiency by working with other parties that will enable us to monitor this”

The partnership allows both agencies to exchange information and identify employers who may not yet have been detected through existing compliance checks.

Employers Portfolio Relationship Manager Pauliasi Navosailagi says measures are also in place to ensure employees are compensated for interest lost when contributions are paid late.

“The waiver that requires the employers to pay that loss of interest accounts for all those years, so there’s a built-in formula for when they pay their debt it accounts for that loss of interest figure”

FNPF maintains that while technology has strengthened its monitoring capabilities, continued collaboration with regulatory agencies and ongoing enforcement efforts are essential to ensure employers meet their contribution obligations and safeguard workers’ retirement savings.