The Public Service Social Security Fund Act, 2018

This section gives the Act its short title and lets the Minister set the commencement date by Gazette notice.

This Act applies in Mainland Tanzania to employers and employees in the Public Service.

This section defines key words and phrases used in the Act.

This section establishes the Public Service Social Security Scheme.

This section sets out who counts as members of the Scheme and gives the Minister power to add more companies by Gazette notice.

This section establishes the Public Service Social Security Fund and says what money and assets make up the Fund.

The Fund’s objectives are to ensure public service employees get retirement pension benefits when due, help imprudent individuals save for old age, and set uniform rules for administering and paying retirement and other benefits.

This section establishes the Board of Trustees of the Fund, gives it corporate powers, lets the Attorney General intervene in cases involving the Board, and requires the Board to notify the Attorney General about impending or planned cases.

The Board must carry out the listed functions for the Fund, including registering members, collecting contributions, administering the Fund, making investments, and handling benefit disbursements.

The Schedule applies to the Board’s composition, tenure, meetings, and other procedural matters, and the Minister may change those Schedule provisions by Gazette order except subparagraph (1).

The Board is responsible for administering and managing the Fund under this Act, the Social Security (Regulatory Authority) Act, and any applicable guidelines, directives, and other relevant written laws.

The Board may establish as many committees as it considers necessary, and those committees must perform specific functions on terms and conditions set by the Board.

The Board may delegate its functions in writing under its official seal, but not those about the annual budget, supplementary budget, annual accounts, or specified investments.

Members of the Board are entitled to fees, allowances, and other incidental costs, as determined by the Minister in consultation with relevant authorities.

The President appoints the Fund’s Director General, who serves for five years, manages day-to-day administration under the Board’s directions, and may be reappointed if performance is satisfactory.

The Board may appoint additional staff, the staff are supervised by the Director General, and the Board must follow the relevant Act, guidelines, directives, and other laws when making internal rules.

Employers must register with the Fund, display the registration certificate at the workplace, and keep and submit employee records/returns as directed by the Fund.

Employers must pay and deduct statutory contributions for members’ monthly salaries, and the Permanent Secretary for finance is responsible for deduction and submission of deducted contributions.

If an employer misses required contributions to the Fund, extra contribution charges become payable.

If the Director General is satisfied that an employee’s contribution was deducted but not remitted by the employer, the unremitted amounts are to be treated as paid for benefit claims.

Member contribution amounts are protected from assignment, transfer, attachment, or levy, except for a home mortgage secured under section 42.

Excess amounts paid into the Fund may be refunded to the employer, the employee, or both, and the Board decides how the refund is made.

The Board must keep an account for each member and credit it with contributions to the Fund; the Director-General must inform a member about the member’s statement of account on request.

Money standing to a member’s credit may only be withdrawn from the Fund if the Board authorizes it and is satisfied the member meets the Act’s qualifying conditions.

Members must retire at 60 years, but they may choose voluntary retirement from age 55.

Pension or similar benefits may be granted only when a member retires from the Public Service in one of the listed cases, and only if the member has at least 15 years of contribution.

A qualifying member is entitled to a special lump sum, unless the member qualifies for other benefits under the Act.

A member is entitled to benefits from the Fund if the Act’s qualifying conditions are met.

The Act makes listed benefits payable, and the Board may add other benefits only if the Authority gives written approval.

A member who has reached retirement age and has contributed to the Fund for at least 180 months is entitled to a full pension.

A member who proves certain emigration conditions to the Director General may end membership and is entitled to a special lump sum payment.

Members are entitled to maternity benefits, including a cash benefit and certain medical care, if the stated conditions are met.

A member may receive an invalidity benefit if a competent authority recommends them and they cannot do their duties because of physical or mental disablement, unless the disability is caused by occupational disease from employment.

The rate and payment duration of invalidity pension are to be set by regulations.

Some members of a pension scheme may receive unemployment benefit if they meet the stated conditions.

The Director General must pay death benefits to dependants, dependent children, or parents when a member dies, subject to the stated conditions and limits.

If a survivors’ benefit is payable, the Director General may pay it to a widow or widower, a guardian, the estate representative, or in some cases the Administrator-General.

The Minister prescribes the basis and duration for survivors benefit in the regulations.

If a member dies while receiving retirement or invalidity pension, the member’s dependants are to be paid a lump sum equal to 36 times the member’s monthly pension.

This section sets how pension, gratuity, and related allowances are handled for people holding constitutional office when they move between offices and finally retire.

A former Chief Justice is entitled, after leaving office, to a monthly pension worth 80% of the incumbent Chief Justice’s salary, and in some cases a gratuity.

A member may use part of their benefit entitlements as collateral for a home mortgage, if regulations made under section 38 are followed.

An employer must tell the Fund in writing about an employee’s retirement date within six months before retirement. The Fund must then pay the member’s due retirement pension benefits within 60 days after retirement.

A member cannot receive more than one benefit at a time. If more than one benefit applies, the Board may decide which benefit is suitable or ask the member for an opinion, and the Board’s decision is final.

The Board may direct some or all pension or other benefit money for an imprisoned member to be used for the member’s maintenance or for the benefit of the member’s wife or children.

A member may apply to the President for exemption from a condition under the Act, if supported by an affidavit and a specified authority’s recommendation.

Certain benefits under the Act cannot generally be assigned, transferred, pledged, hypothecated, attached, sequestered, or levied on, with limited exceptions.

Unclaimed benefits must be moved to reserve handling after 3 years, and after 10 years the account is frozen and the balance is transferred to the reserve account.

Section 49 says where the Fund’s money can come from, what it can be used for, and that administration expenses must stay within the limit set by the Authority.

The Board must hold and administer the Fund for the members of the Scheme, and may authorise payments only for purposes expressly allowed by the Act.

The Director General must prepare annual revenue and expenditure estimates before each financial year, and the Board must consider and adopt them.

The Board must prepare and submit annual and supplementary budgets to the Minister, and the Minister approves or disapproves them.

The Board may invest Fund monies in a suitable economic venture, but only under the Authority’s and Bank’s guidelines and with regard to financial and economic viability.

The Board must keep proper accounts and records for the Fund, prepare annual financial statements, have them audited within six months after each financial year ends, and then submit the audited accounts and audit report to the Minister and the Authority.

The Board must establish, maintain, and manage a Reserve Account, and it determines payments into and out of that account.

Certain contributions, benefits, receipts, contracts, instruments, and related documents are exempt from income tax, and stamp duty and VAT are generally not payable on specified Fund-related documents.

The Board must have the Fund’s assets and liabilities valued by an actuary every three years, or at other intervals the Authority directs, unless guidelines or a waiver apply.

If the Fund is not financially sound after an actuarial valuation, the Board must consider the actuary’s proposals and implement a scheme or arrangement to restore soundness, but it cannot be implemented without Authority approval.

The Fund must keep one or more bank accounts approved by the Board and follow the Authority’s guidelines.

If the Fund cannot pay a member’s benefit because it lacks funds, the unpaid entitlement is charged to and paid from the Consolidated Fund, unless the Fund has already exhausted all other means. If money is advanced from the Consolidated Fund, the Fund must repay the Government as soon as practicable.

The Board must report on the Fund’s operations and financial matters to the Minister and the Authority, and the Minister must table a copy before the National Assembly.

Contributions payable under the Act become a debt due to the Board and may be recovered by summary suit within 12 years of the due date. If a defendant seeks leave to defend, the trial court must first require a deposit equal to the contributions claimed.

Certified copies or extracts from the Fund’s records must be received by courts as prima facie evidence.

The Board of Trustees may bring recovery actions for contributions and additional contributions, and the Fund may use a summary suit within twelve years of the due date. Prosecution for offences linked to non-payment of statutory contributions needs the Director of Public Prosecutions’ consent.

A magistrate may allow one plaint or charge sheet to cover contributions owed for more than one member in proceedings against an employer.

The Director General may issue a written notice of claim to the court after a civil claim is finalized, subject to the Act, to realize property against the employer.

If a claim notice under section 66 has been filed and the employer’s property is attached, sold, or otherwise realized, the court must ensure sale proceeds are first used for sale costs and then for contributions due under the Act before any distribution to others.

A person commits an offence if they knowingly make false statements, misrepresent facts, fail to pay required amounts, obstruct staff, fail to produce documents, or deduct too much from members’ salaries.

A person who breaks the Act’s provisions where no specific penalty is set commits an offence and may be fined up to fifty million shillings, jailed up to four years, or both.

If an association of persons commits an offence under the Act, people in apparent control may also be treated as having committed it in certain circumstances.

People covered by this section are protected from liability for acts or omissions done in good faith while carrying out, or purporting to carry out, their duties.

A lawsuit against the Board cannot start unless the intending plaintiff or agent first serves three months’ written notice, and the notice must state the cause of action, the plaintiff’s name and address, and the relief sought.

When calculating members’ benefits, the Scheme must treat contributions made under repealed Schemes as if they were made under this Act.

If a member moves from public service to a private-sector employer, the member’s membership is transferred to the National Social Security Fund.

The Board may appoint inspectors, and the Minister may appoint public officers as inspectors. Inspectors can enter certain workplaces, ask questions, examine records, and copy documents. Inspectors must carry and produce their appointment certificate when required. Obstructing an inspector or refusing questions, information, or documents is an offence.

The Minister may make regulations, after consulting the Authority, about payments, contributions, forms, unclaimed money in the Fund, and other matters needed to carry out the Act.

This section repeals four pension-related Acts and keeps certain related rules, appointments, directions, and statutory references working subject to the stated limits.

Existing deeds, agreements, and similar arrangements continue to apply to the Fund after commencement.

The Board must finish and decide pending disciplinary matters, and it must handle suspended or interdicted employees or officers as it considers appropriate.

People covered by a former scheme must be transferred to the Fund, and those already receiving pension or other benefits must continue receiving them from the Fund.

Voluntary schemes and related funds, members, and beneficiaries administered by the former schemes must be transferred to the Fund, and the trust deeds are treated as having been entered by the Board.

The Fund must take over all assets and liabilities from the listed retirement benefit funds, effective from the effective date.

Certain powers, rights, privileges, duties, and obligations will pass to the Fund from the commencement date.

The Fund must take over investments and certain legal entities associated with the former schemes.

Pending cases involving the former scheme may continue against or by the Fund, and the Fund and other parties may raise the same objections and exceptions that were available before. Complaints and claims lodged to or against the former schemes are presumed to be complaints under this Act.

This section creates a six-month transition period and lets the Minister extend it if needed.

The Public Service Act applies to matters relating to employees of the former schemes.

This section says the Sub-Part must be read together with the Fire and Rescue Act, which it calls the principal Act.

This provision amends the principal Act by inserting a new section after section 29, titled “Additional terminal benefits.”

On retirement, the appropriate authority must grant the Commissioner-General the benefits listed in the Schedule, in addition to benefits under the Public Service Social Security Fund Act, 2018.

The Commissioner-General is to be granted specified terminal benefits.

This provision says this Sub-Part must be read together with the Judges’ Remuneration and Terminal Benefits Act, which it calls the “principal Act.”

This section adds retirement benefits for the Chief Justice, Justice of Appeal, and a Judge.

This provision says this Part must be read together with the National Social Security Fund Act, which it calls the principal Act.

This section amends section 2 of the principal Act by deleting some definitions and adding new ones, including definitions for “actuary” and “merged schemes”.

This section amends section 6 of the principal Act by replacing paragraphs (a) and (b) with a new list of categories.

This section repeals section 20A of the principal Act.

Section 21 is amended by replacing paragraph (f) with “unemployment benefit.”

This provision amends section 22 of the principal Act by changing a reference, renumbering the section contents as subsection (1), and adding a new subsection (2) about benefit 21(1)(f) being granted under regulations made by the Minister.

This section amends section 23 of the principal Act by deleting wording and adding a new paragraph.

This section amends section 24 of the principal Act and changes the rule for calculating retirement pension for an insured person.

This section amends section 26 of the principal Act by inserting wording that links lump sum payments to a formula prescribed in regulations made by the Minister.

This section changes section 27 by replacing one calculation phrase with a new formula-based phrase.

This provision amends section 33 of the principal Act by replacing the word “twelve” with “thirty three” in the proviso to subsection (1).

This section repeals section 39 of the principal Act and replaces it with new text about unemployment benefits.

A pension scheme member who stops working may be entitled to unemployment benefit if the listed conditions are met.

This section amends the principal Act by repealing sections 39 and 40.

The Fund must pay the member’s due retirement pension benefits within 60 days after retirement, subject to subsection (1).

Section 55 of the principal Act is amended by deleting paragraph (e) and renaming paragraph (f) as paragraph (d).

This section amends section 72 by replacing “one hundred thousand” with “ten million.”

This provision amends the principal Act by inserting a new section after section 74.

The Board may institute additional contributions, the Fund may recover amounts due by summary suit within 12 years, and prosecution for non-payment offences cannot start without the Director of Public Prosecutions’ consent.

This provision amends the principal Act by inserting a new section after section 92 titled “Totalization of periods and benefits.”

If a member moves from private-sector employment to a public-service employer, the membership is transferred to the Public Service Social Security Fund and the person becomes an insured person under that Act.

This sub-part is to be read together with the Police Force and Prisons Service Commission Act, and it adds section 19A.

This section amends the principal Act by inserting a new section 19A immediately after section 19.

On retirement, the Principal Commissioner and the Inspector-General of Police are to receive the benefits set out in the Second Schedule.

Officers specified under section 19A are entitled to the listed benefits, including a diplomatic passport, a motor vehicle, lump-sum money allowances, and VIP lounge access.

This Sub-Part must be read together with the Public Service Act (the principal Act).

This section amends the principal Act by repealing and replacing section 26.

Retirement-benefit matters for public servants are governed by the Public Service Social Security Fund Act, 2018, and certain named officials must receive the benefits listed in the Second Schedule.

This section amends the principal Act by repealing section 27.

This provision amends the principal Act by repealing section 28 and replacing it with new text.

The provision refers pension or other terminal benefit applications for public servants to section 46 of the Public Service Social Security Fund Act.

This section amends the principal Act by creating a Second Schedule that gives specified public servants listed benefits.

This sub-part must be read together with the Social Security (Regulatory Authority) Act, which is called the principal Act.

Guidelines made under this section must be published in the Gazette.

This provision amends section 7(1) of the principal Act by replacing paragraphs (b) and (c) with new representative positions.

This section amends the principal Act by inserting a new section 38A titled “Benefit formula” after section 25.

The Minister must make Gazette regulations that prescribe the formula for calculating certain pension and related benefits.

The Committee may appoint sub-committees when needed, and it must regulate its own proceedings.

This provision amends section 29 of the principal Act by deleting subsection (3).

This section amends the principal Act by repealing section 30 and replacing it with new text, but the replacement text is cut off here.

Employers in the public and private sectors must register their employees with the mandatory scheme. Informal self-employed employees may be registered in the National Social Security Fund, subject to the relevant schemes laws.

This section amends section 54(2) to add a new paragraph about unemployment benefit rules in the relevant schemes laws.

This provision amends section 58 of the principal Act by deleting the word “internal” from subsection (2).

This section says how the Board is made up and who appoints its members.

The Minister may appoint a temporary Board member if a member cannot attend because of illness, infirmity, or absence from the United Republic.

Each Board member serves for up to three years and may be reappointed.

The Director General is the Secretary to the Board, may take part in all Board proceedings, and cannot vote.

A Board member may resign at any time by written notice to the Chairman; the Chairman may resign by written notice to the Minister.

The Board may appoint any person or establish any committee for matters relating to the Fund’s management, investment, and administration.

The Board may grant loans and advances to its officers and employees, subject to terms and conditions it decides.

A person is disqualified from being appointed to, and from remaining as, a member of the Board if they meet certain disqualifying conditions.

Board or committee members with a direct or indirect interest in a matter must disclose that interest and its nature as soon as practicable after learning of it.

The Board must meet four times a year, follow quorum and voting rules, and the Chairman, Vice Chairman, or members present must preside in specified circumstances.