Close to 50% of Relief Applications Rejected
More than 4,000 applications for the extended COVID-19 Relief phases were rejected by the Fiji National Provident Fund.
These applications were rejected for two reasons – insufficient General Account balance and members already accessing the Government’s unemployment assistance.
Chief Executive Officer Viliame Vodonaivalu said it was unfortunate that almost half of the total applications received, were rejected.
“We sympathise with these members but we have been clear about the qualifying requirements for the extended relief. Despite being aware of the criteria, some members have tried to beat the system, even after applying for and receiving the unemployment assistance from Government.”
“This requires extra effort from our processing team as applications are flagged and verified to ensure they are genuine.”
“We request members to refrain from submitting applications if they do not qualify. We continue to liaise with Government to verify that members are not double dipping or attempting to access both the Government and the FNPF unemployment assistance.”
Government assistance for individuals outside Viti Levu
The Government-funded unemployment assistance for formal sector employees living outside Viti Levu opened yesterday (August 25).
These individuals must apply on the myFNPF App and those who have not downloaded or registered on the app, must do so first, to be able to submit their applications.
“A key verification that has been enabled on the myFNPF App is the device location settings which members must accept in order for their location to be confirmed. This is important because it allows only those who are outside Viti Levu to apply,” said Mr. Vodonaivalu.
“If this location setting is rejected by the member, then he or she will not be able to proceed with the application.” The Government unemployment assistance is only for individuals in the formal sector and have recently become unemployed due to the pandemic.
First Payment Cycle for Extended Phases
Payments for 4,040 members were disbursed yesterday for Phase 2 Round 7, Phase 3 Round 6, Phase 4 Round 4 and round 2 of the Voluntary members’ relief.
A total of $3.3 million was paid to these members.
This is the first payment cycle for these members, whose applications were received and approved up to August 20th. These members will receive their second and final payment on November 24th.
The payment for this round of FNPF Unemployment assistance is paid out in two (2) instalments. The first 50% of the approved amount will be paid out in the 1st payment cycle and the remaining 50% will be paid out in the 2nd payment cycle as specified in the payment schedule.
“This is a 6 months relief and we request our members to ensure that they provide the correct and updated documents when submitting applications and to be mindful of the deadlines and payment schedule.”
The next cut-off date for new Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4 and Voluntary relief submissions is September 3rd with the final date for submissions being September 17th.
“Members can continue to engage with our teams through telephone or our digital platforms but if they have no reason to contact us, please refrain from doing so. Unnecessary queries only leads to delays and frustration for other
members – so please be mindful of that,” said Mr. Vodonaivalu.
Members can contact the Fund by calling 5857 or 3307811, email on Information@fnpf.com.fj live web chat through the FNPF website or through social media.
The Fund continues to receive a large volume of queries and advises members that delays in response should be expected.
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Close to 50% of Relief Applications Rejected