Committee extends review of Pension Act amendment to next month

The committee stage of a bill to amend the Pensions Act has been postponed until next month to allow additional time for review of provisions enabling pension fund withdrawals in cases of serious life-threatening illness.

The bill was submitted by Hassan Mufeed Abdul Ghadir on behalf of the government and was accepted during an extraordinary sitting of the People’s Majlis, before being referred to committee.

A committee meeting held on Tuesday decided to extend the deadline for completing the committee stage until next month. Members also agreed to allow relevant state agencies to submit comments on the bill until the end of this month. The decision was approved unanimously by members present.

The proposed amendment sets out conditions under which funds in a pension account may be released to cover medical treatment for terminal or serious life-threatening illnesses. Under the current law, pension funds may be accessed only for Hajj expenses and housing.

The bill provides that a pension scheme member may request the release of funds from their retirement savings account for treatment related to a terminal illness. Terminal illness is defined as a medical condition where a specialist determines that the individual is unlikely to survive for more than 12 months despite appropriate medical care.

In such cases, the full balance of the account or the amount requested by the member may be released.

The amendment also proposes changes to pension eligibility. Individuals whose pension savings and other state income exceed the basic pension amount would not qualify for an old-age pension. In addition, a person receiving a pension would not be entitled to continue receiving payments if elected to an office under the Constitution or law, or if appointed to a position in a state or government-owned company.