Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
 
Question:
 
     Since the launch of the eMPF Platform (the Platform) in June 2024, 12 Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) trustees and 22 MPF master trust schemes/employer sponsored scheme under their administration have onboarded the Platform in batches. However, it has been reported that a large number of complaints have been received continuously against the Platform since its launch, including unsuccessful registration, incorrect or missing contribution records, difficulties in changing or updating information, system operation interface not user-friendly, and failure to make voluntary contributions via the Platform. It has even been reported recently that there were long queues of people seeking assistance at the eMPF service centers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) since the onboarding of the first MPF trustee, of (i) the total number of complaints received by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) and the eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) regarding the Platform's operation, with a breakdown by type of complaints; (ii) the respective percentages of complaints that have been resolved and the average time required for handling each complaint;
 
(2) whether it knows if MPFA/eMPF Company has established emergency response mechanisms and performance pledges for handling cases concerning unsuccessful user registration and incorrect or missing contribution records, so as to ensure that users can restore account access within a reasonable time;
 
(3) whether it knows if MPFA/eMPF Company has investigated the causes of reported disappearance of contribution records, discrepancies in the amount of contributions, or errors in the allocation of fund units following the migration of relevant data to the Platform; whether MPFA/eMPF Company will establish a specific compensation mechanism to deal with situations where scheme members suffer losses from their MPF investments due to system errors of the Platform or a surcharge is imposed on employers as a result of being wrongly accused of defaulting on contributions, thereby enabling scheme members/employers to pursue responsibility;
 
(4) whether it knows if MPFA/eMPF Company has plans to comprehensively enhance the Platform's system in the short term so as to address issues such as poor design of the Platform's operation interface, complicated procedures for handling contributions which have rendered employers or scheme members unable to make voluntary contributions on the Platform, and failure to show scheme members' contribution records in their accounts; if so, of the specific timetable and enhancement project;
 
(5) in response to a question raised by a Member of this Council on October 22 last year regarding the staffing establishment of the Platform for handling enquiries and complaints, the Administration stated that the contractor of the Platform would increase its headcounts to over 1 100 by the end of 2025; given that the other two MPF industry schemes will be onboarded on March 26 and April 30 this year respectively, whether it knows if the contractor of the Platform has plans to further increase manpower or adopt other measures so as to handle enquiries or complaints more effectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(6) whether it knows if MPFA/eMPF Company will review afresh and adjust the onboarding timetable for the remaining two MPF industry schemes, or establish more stringent criteria for system stress tests prior to onboarding so as to ensure smooth onboarding to the Platform?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Launched in June 2024, the eMPF Platform seeks to standardise, streamline, and automate Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme administration work, thereby enhancing operational efficiency, reducing administrative costs, driving fee reduction, and providing greater convenience in managing MPF accounts. In consultation with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), our reply to the six-part question is as follows.
 
(1) and (5) As at end-February this year, the eMPF Platform received a total of about 11 500 complaint cases with details at Annex. The 12 MPF trustees have already onboarded the eMPF Platform in ascending order of their assets-under-management (AUM) size (save for the two industry schemes dedicated to casual employees of the catering and construction industries). With the phased onboarding of the three trustees with the largest AUM size over the past six months, it is expected to observe an increase in the cumulative number of complaints received by the Platform during the same period. This notwithstanding, we note that the rate of increase in complaints has dropped over the past two months. The eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) has handled over 76 per cent of the cases (i.e. about 8 800 cases), with an average handling time of about 18 working days. The Government has instructed that the MPFA and the eMPF Company must take remedial measures immediately to handle complaints in a timely manner and to improve user experience. Specifically, the Platform's project contractor has implemented a series of enhancement measures, including increasing headcounts dedicated to handling complaints, strengthening managerial oversight of case progress, upgrading internal communication tools to provide better frontline support, implementing a mechanism to assign dedicated case officers to handle each case, strengthening staff training, introducing artificial intelligence to optimise data retrieval and improve communication with customers, etc. The eMPF Company has also implemented a performance tracking system to continuously monitor the Platform's operation statistics and to introduce alerts on critical processes, reminding the contractor's staff to complete the processing of instructions made by employers and scheme members within the specified timeframe. The contractor has also conducted a comprehensive review and enhanced the reporting mechanism for exceptional cases, including the establishment of a dedicated Complaint Handling Task Force late last year, led by its management to focus on handling urgent cases. In terms of manpower, as at end-February this year, the total headcount of the Project Team has substantially increased by more than 60 per cent to about 4 200, around 1 300 of which were dedicated to handling enquiries and complaints related to the eMPF Platform, representing an increase in headcount of more than five times in a year. The Government, the MPFA and the eMPF Company will continue to closely monitor the complaint handling mechanism of the eMPF Platform and strive to provide Platform users with customer services of higher quality.
 
(2) to (4) When individual MPF schemes first onboarded the eMPF Platform, we understand that some employers and scheme members encountered difficulties in adapting to and using the Platform, including delays in tagging payments and identifying voluntary contributions resulting in relevant contributions not being timely reflected on the eMPF Platform.
 
     To assist employers in registering with and using the eMPF Platform, the eMPF Company has been providing them with one-on-one, hand-holding on-site support through outreach services. To date, the outreach team has conducted over 16 000 visits to ensure that the relevant employers are familiar with the Platform's actual operation and succeed in making contributions.
 
     At the same time, the MPFA and the eMPF Company have commenced the third-phase stakeholders engagement exercise starting from April 2025 to assist scheme members in registering with and using the Platform, with a special focus on the less tech-savvy grassroots. Over 600 meetings, talks, exchange sessions, district outreach activities and collaborative events with different stakeholder groups have been arranged so far to introduce the Platform's functionalities and provide on-site registration service. To ensure that support is available in every district, the MPFA and the eMPF Company have co-organised seminars with the Home Affairs Department and district groups and set up registration counters to provide convenient services for local residents. They have also set up counters at major public events, including the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo and Lunar New Year Fairs. or arranged eMPF fleet to attend, to massively and proactively reach out to the public.
 
     If employers/scheme members encounter any difficulties in registering with or using the eMPF Platform, they may call the eMPF customer service hotline or visit any one of the eMPF service centres and eMPF self-service kiosks located across all 18 districts of Hong Kong. The self-service kiosks are located inside designated sports centres under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and designated stores of the contractor, with on-site eMPF ambassadors providing assistance for those in need. The eMPF Company has made service pledges in respect of services provided by the Platform. The relevant details have been uploaded onto the eMPF Company's website for public reference.
 
     In addition, the MPFA has been gathering views from stakeholders and users through a three-tiered testing framework since early 2025, so as to optimise the user interface and operational processes of the eMPF Platform and bring in comprehensive elevation of user experience. Such framework comprises (a) engaging a professional service company to conduct testing of major system functionalities, with a view to improving user experience; (b) setting up an Expert Group comprising information technology (IT) experts, managerial staff from large technology firms or digital platform companies, representatives from IT federations and university scholars, to advise on the Platform's operations and development; and (c) establishing a Standing User Group comprising existing eMPF users from various sectors to tap their views on the Platform and to brief them on the Platform's latest functionalities and improvement measures. In response to the feedback received, the eMPF Company will from time to time conduct technical upgrades on the eMPF Platform's website and mobile application and fix such system features as the user interface.
 
     If a scheme member suffers direct financial loss attributable to the eMPF Company's fault (such as a delay in transferring MPF accrued benefits), he/she may file a claim against the eMPF Company. In accordance with the general principle, the eMPF Company will credit the shortfall in fund units to the affected scheme member's MPF account to restore his/her account to the position had the error not occurred. The aforementioned compensation mechanism is consistent with the standard practice adopted by all trustees in handling compensation claims prior to the launch of the eMPF Platform. Scheme members may also consider participating in the Pilot Scheme for Mediation for the eMPF Platform administered by the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre, which provides an independent, impartial, and efficient channel to resolve monetary disputes with the eMPF Company through mediation.
 
     If an employer receives a "Payment Notice for MPF Contributions and Surcharge" (PN) from the MPFA despite having made MPF mandatory contributions on time, he/she may file an objection to the eMPF Company and submit the relevant supporting documents within 14 days after the PN issue date. After ascertaining that the employer has made MPF mandatory contributions on time, the eMPF Company will notify the MPFA immediately and the employer concerned will not be required to pay any surcharge.
 
(6) Prior to commencing operation, the eMPF Platform has passed a series of rigorous and comprehensive testing on various fronts, including security, load and privacy. A security risk assessment and audit, as well as a privacy impact assessment have been conducted by an independent third-party consultant. During the process, the eMPF Company has been maintaining close communication and exchanging views with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Digital Policy Office to ensure that the Platform complies with statutory requirements and the latest Government guidelines in different areas, including security, load and privacy. To provide additional safeguards, the eMPF Company has also engaged an independent third-party consultant to conduct an external assessment of the Platform and confirm system readiness prior to launching the Platform. Since the commencement of operation of the Platform, the eMPF Company has been monitoring the network system round-the-clock to detect and intercept cyberattacks. Regular cyberattack drills and annual security audits are also conducted to assess risks and vulnerabilities, so as to ensure the robustness, reliability, security and user-friendliness of the Platform.
 
     Before migrating their MPF scheme data to the eMPF Platform, all 12 trustees were required to prepare and submit their data in accordance with specified and standardised data formats and complete a rigorous, multi-stage data migration process to ensure data integrity and system readiness. The relevant process involved data cleansing, format validation and multiple rounds of testing. Regarding the 22 onboarded MPF schemes, the data migration process was largely smooth, with no systemic issue arisen before. Trustees operating the two industry schemes (i.e. BCT (MPF) Industry Choice and BEA (MPF) Industry Scheme) are also operating other MPF schemes which already onboarded the eMPF Platform last year. The relevant experience helps reduce the risk of migrating data of industry schemes to the eMPF Platform. With smooth progress in all preparatory and testing work, it is expected that the two industry schemes could onboard the eMPF Platform on March 26 and April 30 this year respectively as planned.

Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 15:20

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