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Following is a question by the Hon Paul Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
Regarding the implementation of the Government's measure to inject $6,000 into the Mandatory Provident Fund accounts of eligible persons through the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the authorities stated that the injection of money into the accounts of some 1.404 million eligible persons had been completed at the end of April, of the number of applications received so far for review of eligibility, the respective numbers of cases of wrongful injections and omission of injections, the respective amounts of money involved, as well as the follow-up results of the relevant cases;
(b) whether it has considered identifying persons of "three have-nots" or "five have-nots" ("three have-nots" means those who do not apply for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, do not live in a public rental housing unit and do not have to pay tax, while "five have-nots" means those who, in addition to three have-nots, do not have to pay electricity charges directly and do not need to pay rates) through the account information of eligible persons obtained from the injection measure, and introducing counter measures to relieve their hardship; if it has, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it knows if the relevant authorities will regularly update the account information of eligible persons obtained from the injection measure; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(1) As at June 30, 2009, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) has received some 7,400 cases requesting for review of eligibility for receiving the injection. They include -
(a) 6,720 cases involving those who did not receive the notification of injection but who consider that they should be eligible; and
(b) 680 cases involving those who received the injection but who consider that they should not be eligible.
Of the above-mentioned 7,400 cases, the MPFA has completed investigation of 3,700 cases, amongst which 3,200 cases fall under the category described in paragraph (a) above and 500 cases belong to the category described in paragraph (b) above. The investigation results of the respective categories in paragraph (a) and (b) above are set out below -
(a) Of the 3,200 cases with investigation completed, the review results of 1,100 cases maintain that the persons concerned should not be eligible to receive the injection and the review results of the remaining 2,100 cases indicate that the persons concerned should be eligible to receive the injection;
(b) Of the 500 cases with investigation completed, the review results of 320 cases maintain that the persons concerned should be eligible to receive the injection and the review results of the remaining 180 cases indicate that the persons concerned should not be eligible to receive the injection.
The respective amounts of money that would need to be injected into Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) accounts and withdrawn from MPF accounts in the light of the above investigation results are $12.6 million and $1.08 million. If the persons concerned are not satisfied with MPFA's review results, they can lodge an appeal within 21 days after MPFA has issued notification of the review decision.
(2)&(3) Section 19C of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance stipulates that the MPFA may only for the purpose of paying special contributions require approved trustees, employers and other relevant persons to provide information relating to members of MPF Schemes and Occupational Retirement Schemes. In view of this legislative provision, the information collected for the purpose of this injection exercise cannot be used for other purposes that are unrelated to its implementation.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:16
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