National Insurance Board sued over alleged pension arrears

Attorney Christopher Ram, pensioner Kalicharan Heera, and three trade unions have filed a High Court application for judicial review against the National Insurance Board (NIB). The applicants seek to compel the Board to pay statutory minimum old-age pensions at the rate prescribed by law and to recover arrears allegedly accumulated since January 2021.

The dispute centers on Regulation 4(b) of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) Benefit Regulations, which mandates that an old-age pension must “in no case” be less than 50 per cent of the Public Service minimum wage. The applicants contend that while the Board adhered to this until 2020, it failed to adjust payments in line with subsequent increases in the public sector minimum wage.

Currently, minimum-rate pensioners are receiving $43,075 monthly, whereas the applicants argue the lawful minimum should be $51,173. This results in an alleged monthly shortfall of $8,098. The applicants estimate that pensioners receiving the minimum rate throughout this period could each be owed approximately $510,300. The legal action seeks an accounting of all arrears with interest, including sums owed to the estates of deceased pensioners.