By LCN Compliance Desk
The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) must deal with queries at the office where people turn up and must not push them from one branch to another, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh said at the Scheme's 57th anniversary on Wednesday, 16 September, Demerara Waves reported. "You are not to be rude and obnoxious or unhelpful. You're not to push people around and have them running," he said, citing the replies "I can't find your record" and "Come back next week". That kind of complaint "has reduced significantly but it has not been eliminated completely", he added.
He also told NIS to use its own data to find contributions employers failed to pay, rather than waiting for workers to discover the gaps at 60. "Remedy the problems now," he said, Guyana Times reported.
What did the Finance Minister ask NIS to change?
Singh said every registered employer is entitled to receive, without asking, a statement at the end of each year showing the employees for whom contributions were paid and how many, and asked General Manager Holly Greaves and the Board to make sure the statements go out, HGPTV reported. He proposed that NIS query its records for workers who were with the same employer at the start and end of a year but have fewer than 52 contributions recorded, and pass those cases to enforcement, Guyana Times reported.
He urged workers to request their record at least once a year and not "wait until your 59th birthday to then scramble", and reminded employers that they are legally obliged to register workers and pay over deductions. Many missing-contribution cases involve employers from decades ago that no longer exist, he said, which makes the records hard to recover. The government will "shortly" digitise all NIS processes, including registration, employers' monthly returns, contribution payments, record checks and benefit claims, according to the Ministry of Finance.
What problems have NIS members reported?
Contributions deducted but never paid over. On 27 November 2023 High Court Justice Damone Younge ordered NIS to credit carpenter Shariff Zainul with 354 contributions that his former employer, Toolsie Persaud Limited, had not remitted for 1992 to 2000, which took him past the 750 contributions required for an old age pension, Stabroek News reported. The judge wrote that an applicant should not suffer for the failure of NIS and employers to keep accurate records, and that NIS contribution records "have become notorious for its unreliability". NIS appealed in December 2023, Stabroek News reported, and in January 2024 the Full Court referred the matter back to the trial judge, according to Zainul's attorney, Christopher Ram, who in August 2024 began paying Zainul and a second claimant, Julia Clarke, the equivalent of an NIS pension from his own funds, Kaieteur News reported. NIS records credited Clarke with 739 contributions, 11 short of the threshold, and she said she had been "running behind" NIS about her record since 2019.
In January 2025 a letter writer described a 90-year-old relative who was first told NIS had no record of his employment at Bermine, then told he had 740 contributions, with about a year's contributions missing; the letter said the NIS General Manager had twice cancelled appointments to meet him, Stabroek News published.
Waiting and misplaced documents. In January 2025 the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it continued to receive complaints about the slow pace of business with NIS, difficulty reaching the Scheme by telephone, difficulty registering companies, misplaced documents that required applicants to reapply, and NIS's failure to move to a digital system, Kaieteur News reported. NIS replied that it was disappointed the Chamber had gone public, had begun an investigation into the allegations and had requested an urgent meeting. One letter writer said he arrived at the Brickdam office at 9:30 am in May 2024 to collect his old age benefit book and left at 3 pm, Stabroek News published. A March 2026 letter described cubicles in the Benefits Section patched with plastic and tape, air-conditioning units not working, exposed electrical wiring and missing floor tiles at the Scheme's Georgetown offices, Kaieteur News published.
Collecting a pension. Until June 2026, pensioners paid by voucher could cash them only at 14 NIS offices or 63 post offices, and 39,052 pensioners still relied on physical pension books, Kaieteur News reported.
What has changed at NIS since 2020?
NIS Board Chairman Ramesh Persaud said the Scheme faced a backlog of more than 14,000 pending claims a month in 2020 while processing about 5,000, leaving claimants waiting two and a half to three months, and that by 2026 it was processing more than 22,000 claims a month with a backlog under 3,000 and a turnaround of one to two weeks, Kaieteur News reported. In June 2026 the Scheme added 4,779 pension collection points through Mobile Money Guyana, MoneyGram and Bill Express. Pensioners paid directly into bank accounts rose from 11,932 in 2020 to 24,415 by June 2026, according to figures given at that launch; on Wednesday the Minister put the number at more than 20,000 and said more than 40,000 pensioners had not switched, the Ministry of Finance said.
For people who reached 60 by 31 December 2024 with between 500 and 749 contributions, the government made one-off payments of G$260,000 to G$650,000, totalling more than G$10 billion for over 25,000 senior citizens, Demerara Waves reported in April 2025.
How can workers check their NIS contribution record?
Singh pointed contributors to the online platform on the NIS website, Guyana Times reported. On 17 September 2026 the NIS home page stated that its contribution database, refreshed quarterly, was last updated on 30 November 2024 and reflects contributions posted up to September 2024. The online contribution checking system itself stated that its database was last updated on 20 May 2015 and that the application "is currently in the testing phase". Contributors can also request a statement from an NIS office.
What else has La Caribeña News reported on NIS compliance?
La Caribeña News has reported that business NIS registration is one of four documents the Local Content Secretariat requires, that compliance for Guyanese firms now reaches well beyond tax and NIS, and that unremitted national insurance contributions have been at the centre of disputes in the sugar sector. NIS compliance is also among the requirements set out for Guyana Development Bank applicants, and business leader Timothy Tucker has advised small firms to complete NIS enrolment before applying. The bank opens on 5 October.
What the title card shows
- Claims backlog: more than 14,000 a month in 2020, under 3,000 in 2026. Claim turnaround: two and a half to three months in 2020, one to two weeks in 2026. Source: NIS Board Chairman Ramesh Persaud, via Kaieteur News.
- Pension collection points: 77 before June 2026, more than 4,800 after. Pensions paid into bank accounts: 11,932 in 2020, 24,415 in June 2026. Source: Kaieteur News.
- 750 contributions required for an old age pension; 354 contributions the High Court ordered credited to Shariff Zainul in 2023. Source: Stabroek News.
- 52 contributions a year for a worker employed all year, the basis of the query the Minister proposed. Source: Guyana Times.
- 40,000+ pensioners not paid into a bank account. Source: Ministry of Finance.
- Quotation: "Remedy the problems now", Dr Ashni Singh, 16 September 2026. Source: Guyana Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many NIS contributions do I need for an old age pension?
750 contributions, of which at least 150 must have been paid, under the benefits regulations cited by the High Court in the Zainul case, Stabroek News reported. People who reached 60 by the end of 2024 with 500 to 749 contributions received one-off payments in 2025.
What should I do if my employer deducted NIS but did not pay it over?
Check your record now rather than at 60, the Finance Minister said, and raise any gap with your employer and NIS while the records still exist. He has asked NIS to identify such gaps itself and pass delinquent employers to enforcement, Guyana Times reported.
Can I get my NIS pension paid into a bank account?
Yes. More than 20,000 pensioners are paid directly into bank accounts, and the Minister said a Life Certificate can be sent by WhatsApp so pensioners with accounts need not queue, according to the Ministry of Finance. Since June 2026 pensions can also be received through Mobile Money Guyana wallets, Kaieteur News reported.
How long does an NIS claim take?
One to two weeks on average in 2026, down from two and a half to three months in 2020, according to NIS Board Chairman Ramesh Persaud, Kaieteur News reported.
More than 60,000 pensioners receive their pensions on time, the Minister told the Scheme on its 57th anniversary.
Disclosure: EICCIO Advisors, which shares ownership with this newspaper, advises businesses on NIS compliance.