Taspen pushes for civil servant social security programme reform

PT Taspen (Persero) is pushing for reform of the civil servant (ASN) social security programme to maintain the sustainability of benefit payments amid a claim ratio that has been rising in recent years. Taspen President Director Rony Hanityo Aprianto stated that the old-age savings (THT) programme’s claim ratio has consistently been above 250 per cent and is projected to continue increasing over the next 10 years. “If we look at Taspen, the claim ratio is consistently above 250 per cent and is expected to keep rising over the next decade, so a comprehensive programme reform is needed,” Rony said during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI at the Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday. According to him, the reform concerns not only Taspen’s internal management but also requires government support as the programme owner to ensure the sustainability of ASN social security. Rony said one step that needs to be considered in the reform is the government’s involvement as an employer through a contribution scheme to strengthen programme funding in the future. “Going forward, there may need to be government contributions as the employer,” he stated. In addition to programme reform, Taspen is also urging the acceleration of government regulation issuance as a derivative rule of Law Number 20 of 2023 on ASN to reinforce the company’s position as the manager of the ASN social security programme. Rony explained that the derivative regulation is also needed to govern the implementation of the pension and old-age security programmes for government employees with work agreements (PPPK), including the contribution scheme and funding mechanism. He added that the settlement of the government’s obligations for past pension benefits that have not been funded or paid to the pension programme manager, known as unfunded past service liability (UPSL), is also an important factor in strengthening the sustainability of the ASN social security programme. According to him, Taspen’s UPSL value currently stands at Rp25.8 trillion, and the company is still awaiting a settlement scheme from the government. “If the UPSL payment is made, it will greatly help Taspen’s sustainability in the future amid the high claim ratio,” he said. Furthermore, House Commission VI, in its meeting conclusions, supported Taspen in coordinating with the government and relevant ministries and agencies to accelerate the completion of implementing regulations for the ASN Law. The support also covers strengthening Taspen’s institutional position, reinforcing PPPK membership, resolving the UPSL payment mechanism, and reforming the THT, work accident insurance (JKK), and death insurance (JKM) programmes. House Commission VI and Taspen also agreed that the company should prepare a sustainability roadmap for the pension and THT programmes, containing financial projections, actuarial risks, funding needs, and mitigation measures to address the rising claim ratio and demographic structure changes among participants.