WAMCO withheld pension over unpaid invoices

The Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO) has confirmed that pension deductions from employee salaries have not been deposited into the pension fund for over a year due to financial constraints caused by unpaid invoices.

The issue came to light after Afrah Ismail, under the Right to Information Act, requested details of pension payment dates and amounts from government companies.

WAMCO said the last pension deposit was made in October 2024, and no payments have been made since, a gap of 14 months.

A WAMCO official told Sun that while pension contributions were deducted from salaries until October, the company has been unable to deposit the funds due to delays in receiving payments for services rendered. “They are not getting the money [for the invoices],” the official said.

The official noted that the largest outstanding amount is owed by Male' City Council, and WAMCO is working with the Ministry of Finance to recover the funds. “I’ve been talking to the city council before I got to this point. Even if the money is not paid at once, the Mayor and other options have been discussed,” he said.

Other agencies also owe WAMCO, but the company has not yet confirmed the total outstanding amount.

Under the pension system, seven percent of an employee’s salary is deducted and matched by the employer, with both contributions deposited into the pension fund. The WAMCO official explained that if an employee earns MVR 24,000 and MVR 2,000 is deducted, the employee receives MVR 22,000, but the MVR 2,000 remains unpaid into the fund unless the employer deposits it.

Pensions are designed to provide income after retirement, and the final payout depends on the total contributions accumulated over time.