This scorecard will measure the number of complaints a retirement fund receives and how long it takes to respond.
Parliament will introduce tough new legislation later this year to deal with slack retirement funds administrators and improve levels of transparency in the industry. According to the
Pension Funds Adjudicator Mamodupi Mohlala, a shortcoming of pension funds law is that her office is unable to levy penalties on funds and administrators that do not resolve complaints in the best interests of members. The proposed scorecard will be a form of self-regulation and will make funds accountable to their members.
The scorecard will show the number of complaints lodged with the adjudicator’s office against each fund, the nature of the complaints, the time taken for funds to respond to complaints and the nature and quality of those responses. It will also show the number of complaints settled before and after the adjudicator started to investigate the cases, the number of cases in which members were given relief and the number that were dismissed.
Mohlala says her office currently has 10 182 files open and receives at least 400 new complaints a month. The office faces unnecessary obstacles such as funds and administrators failing to supply complete and accurate information necessary for complaints resolution. Mohlala states that employing more staff to deal with the high volume of complaints would not solve the problem. A preventative measure is required to ensure that complaints are settled by funds before they are referred to the adjudicator’s office.
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