BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA LEGISLATORS have raised concern over the paltry monthly stipends ranging from US$5 to US$60, paid in local currency to pensioners.
The issue was raised on Wednesday in the National Assembly by Bindura South MP Remigious Matangira (Zanu PF) who grilled Finance minister Mthuli Ncube over the issue saying the retirees were also struggling to access the money, queuing for very long hours at banks.
Last week, widows of pensioners of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) disclosed that they were earning US$2 monthly, which has since been increased to US$18.
In response, Ncube promised to work with banks to improve the payouts and withdrawal limit for pensioners, which is currently $5 000.
“Pensioners are, indeed, experiencing challenges in accessing their monthly pensions in banks, particularly at CABS, National Building Society, POSB, Steward Bank and NMB. CABS, for example, is using a new banking system which pensioners are not well versed with, hence most are failing to withdraw their income using ATM cards and consequently, tellers spend more time assisting clients on how to use the new system,” Ncube said.
“We also see resistance to new technology by pensioners, as some insist on getting cash from the banks instead of using ATM cards for purchasing goods and services.
“Some banks have introduced incentives for pensioners to transact using their bank cards, for instance applying zero charges for such transactions.”
He also promised that his ministry would look into the issue of charges across banks saying they must be standardised.
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“That is unpalatable to our pensioners and we should make every effort to standardise them in a manner that is affordable for our pensioners. Again when I have the conversation with the central bank, I will also put this on the table so that it is dealt with.”
Finance deputy minister Clemence Chiduwa added: “We liaised with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to remove the limit and also negotiated for dedicated tellers for the convenience of pensioners so they do not stand in long queues. I should go and check if what we agreed on is being implemented, pensioners should not be given a limit, but should be allowed to withdraw all their funds and not stand in queues.”
The Finance ministry said to decongest banking halls, CABS had introduced super agencies in Norton, Chitungwiza, Budiriro, Highfield and Greendale to assist with cash withdrawals.
“National Building Society (NBS) has established a special banking hall in Bulawayo starting next week, and is making collaborative efforts with Metro Peach supermarket to serve the pensioners as an agency, in order to reduce long queues. The NMB has introduced a virtual withdrawal system where the client accesses all the banking services digitally and goes to the banking hall to provide the reference number to the teller,” Ncube said.
In April, the Insurance and Pensions Commission said it was putting measures in place to improve benefits for pensioners after 53% of the complaints it handled in the fourth quarter of 2021 were related to low pension values.
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