That was the opinion brought up for discussion and solution at the Press Conference on the results of implementing socio-economic development tasks, chaired by the People's Committee of Bac Giang province.

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Cashless pension payment, elderly people struggle to receive

At the conference, a representative of Bac Giang Provincial Newspaper pointed out the current shortcomings in the synchronous implementation of pension payments through bank accounts, especially for the elderly.

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Representatives of Bac Giang Newspaper attended the conference and asked questions about the inadequacies in paying pensions to the elderly through bank accounts. Photo: Bao Khanh.

Not all seniors have smartphones, and even those who do do not know how to use online banking. Therefore, paying salaries to non-tech-savvy seniors through bank accounts instead of paying directly in cash is causing many negative consequences.

Many retirees have had to ask their children and grandchildren to receive their salary payments. In some cases, they have had to “reclaim” their own salary from their children and grandchildren, leading to the elderly not being proactive in their living expenses.

Responding to this content, Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Bac Giang province, Tran Van Ha, said: The implementation of digital transformation in salary payment for pensioners is not compulsory. Before implementing, we distributed questionnaires to check whether the elderly voluntarily participate in receiving cashless salary? If yes, then payment will be made through the account.

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Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Bac Giang province, Tran Van Ha, admitted that the digital transformation in pension payments is still rigid and has not promoted volunteerism. Photo: Bao Khanh.

However, when the provincial Social Insurance paid pensions, there was a lot of conflicting information. In fact, many places did not follow the roadmap but were forced to do so.

This is the current situation, many elderly people do not have bank accounts, do not use technology devices to spend and transfer money, so they have encountered difficulties. The department will coordinate with the provincial Social Insurance to review.

Digital transformation must benefit the people, not chase after achievements.

Deputy Director of Bac Giang Social Insurance Nguyen Quang Quyen explained: The unit's digital transformation target is not high yet, so efforts are being made to improve it. Currently, the whole province has 55 thousand pensioners. When the industry applied the non-cash policy in pension payments, it initially received objections from the people.

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Deputy Director of Bac Giang Social Insurance Nguyen Quang Quyen answers press comments. Photo: Bao Khanh.

“This is voluntary, not forced, so when we got the information, we went to the grassroots to mobilize and propagate. After that, the elderly basically agreed. If the elderly do not have a smartphone or a bank account, they can authorize their children or relatives to pay. Then the authorized person will withdraw the cash and give it back to the elderly,” Mr. Quyen offered a solution.

Disagreeing with this approach, Vice Chairman of Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee Mai Son stated his opinion: Digital transformation must be for the people. If it is not convenient or beneficial to the people, there is no need to do it.

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Vice Chairman of Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee Mai Son disagrees with the mechanical way of achieving achievements in digital transformation activities. Photo: Bao Khanh.

Our other digital transformation policies are doing very well and are very practical, but paying non-cash pensions to the elderly when they are not eligible or ready is rigid.

Now, asking their children to receive it for them and then go to the bank to withdraw cash and give it back won't solve anything. Not to mention that the elders are not familiar with using bank transfers and mistakenly transfer 100 as 1 million, causing unnecessary damage.

Here there are signs of achievement and worrying about targets. Therefore, we should not be mechanical in forcing family members to receive salaries through their accounts. If it is suitable, then do it. If it is not convenient for the people, then forget it, Mr. Son concluded.