Attorney-at-law and chartered accountant Christopher Ram, a pensioner and three trade unions have taken the National Insurance Board (NIB) to the High Court, seeking to compel the payment of statutory minimum old-age pensions at the rate prescribed by law and recover arrears allegedly accumulated since January 2021.
The applicants estimate that pensioners who received the minimum rate throughout the period could each be owed approximately $510,300, as they challenge what they describe as the Board’s failure to adjust payments in line with increases in the Public Service minimum wage.
The judicial review application, filed on Thursday, names Ram, pensioner Kalicharan Heera, the Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, the United Minibus Union and the Guyana Market Vendors Union.
At the centre of the dispute is Regulation 4(b) of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Benefit Regulations, which stipulates that an old-age pension shall “in no case” be less than 50 per cent of the Public Service minimum wage.
The applicants contend that the Board broadly honoured this requirement until 2020 but failed to maintain the statutory minimum as public sector wages increased in subsequent years.
According to their calculations, the minimum pension should now be $51,173 monthly, compared with the $43,075 currently paid to minimum-rate pensioners. That represents an alleged shortfall of $8,098 every month.
The applicants are asking the court to declare that the 50 per cent threshold is mandatory, order the Board to pay pensions at the legally prescribed rate, and require an accounting of all arrears since 2021, together with interest. They are also seeking payment of outstanding sums due to the estates of pensioners who have died.
“The NIS has never doubted its obligation. The Benefit Regulations set it out, and the NIS website, Annual Reports and actuarial reports repeated it: the minimum pension must not be less than 50% of the Public Service minimum wage,” the applicants said in a statement.
The dispute has previously been raised through political and administrative channels.
In 2024, Opposition Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson tabled a motion, seconded by Juretha Fernandes, calling on the Government to make retroactive payments to minimum pensioners for 2021 to 2023. According to the applicants, the Speaker rejected the motion, leaving the pensioners without the proposed payments.
The latest court action follows a letter sent on October 1 by Ram and 10 unions to the NIS Board, warning that legal proceedings would follow over the alleged arrears. The letter was addressed to the Board’s secretary and copied to its chairman, the NIS general manager and Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh.
The applicants said the Board failed to provide a satisfactory response, prompting them to seek judicial intervention.
They have also questioned the Government’s handling of the matter, pointing to Singh’s responsibilities in relation to the NIS, the financial administration framework overseeing the Board and the regulations governing benefits. They argue that increases in the Public Service minimum wage should have triggered corresponding adjustments to the minimum pension.
The applicants further rely on section 34(2) of the National Insurance and Social Security Act, arguing that Parliament is required to make up any shortfall in the National Insurance Fund if the Scheme cannot meet its legal obligations.
Ram has previously warned that the total arrears could amount to billions of dollars, depending on the number of pensioners affected and the period for which payments are owed.
The proceedings are to be served on the National Insurance Board and the Attorney General, the Government’s chief legal adviser.
The applicants have called for the matter to be resolved promptly, arguing that the case concerns pensioners who may have been denied payments guaranteed under the law. The court will be asked to determine the Board’s legal obligations and whether the relief sought, including retroactive payments and interest, should be granted.
Source: Village Voice News
