Case of homeowner being charged compulsory insurance: 'Wrong but no profiteering seen'

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung affirmed that no signs of profiteering have been detected in the case of 4,240 business owners having their compulsory social insurance collected against regulations.

In more than 40 questions on the morning of June 6, many delegates spent time "questioning" Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung about the responsibilities of the parties and measures to handle benefits for more than 4,240 business owners who were illegally collected social insurance from 2003 to 2021.

Delegate Ma Thi Thuy (Deputy Head of Tuyen Quang Delegation) said that public opinion was very upset about the fact that 4,240 households had their compulsory social insurance incorrectly collected for a long time. "What is the Minister's opinion and how will it be handled?", she questioned.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung opened the question-and-answer session on the morning of June 6. Photo: National Assembly Media — Minister Dao Ngoc Dung opened the question-and-answer session on the morning of June 6. Photo: *National Assembly Media*

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung assessed that the number of people who had their social insurance collected incorrectly was not small. After discovering the violations, the Ministry has rectified the Vietnam Social Security. "If a public agency makes a mistake, it must apologize and handle it according to regulations, that's the spirit," he stated.

According to the labor sector leader, there are currently three ways to handle this: ask the National Assembly for permission to transfer all household heads to mandatory payment to enjoy benefits; transfer to voluntary social insurance if agreed; in the worst case, if not agreed, the collection must be withdrawn.

"Is there any negativity in collecting social insurance according to the law and which agency is responsible, and how to handle violations?", delegate Huynh Thi Phuc (Deputy Head of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Delegation) raised the issue. She said that it is necessary to clarify the roadmap for handling benefits for household owners.

Delegate Huynh Thi Phuc (Vung Tau) raised the issue of whether there was any negativity in the case of households being wrongly charged insurance during the questioning session on the morning of June 6. Photo: National Assembly Media — Delegate Huynh Thi Phuc (Vung Tau) raised the issue of whether there was any negativity in the case of households being wrongly charged insurance during the questioning session on the morning of June 6. Photo: *National Assembly Media*

Mr. Dung affirmed that the wrong collection of compulsory social insurance was wrong in policy and the responsibility belongs to the Vietnam Social Security and the social insurance agencies of the provinces and cities. After discovering the violations, localities flexibly handled the benefits for business owners. Some people agreed to switch to voluntary payment, others wanted to withdraw the collection; some places still had problems because there was no resolution mechanism.

Eight inspection teams from the Central Economic Commission and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs have worked with localities. Some places reported 62 cases, but after processing, there were only eight household owners. "I would like to clearly report that no signs of profiteering have been found in this case, but if there are any mistakes, they must definitely be dealt with," Mr. Dung reiterated.

The Minister also proposed that the National Assembly add to the Resolution of the session to allow the Government to immediately take necessary measures to ensure the rights of individuals whose social insurance premiums were incorrectly collected. This is to fundamentally resolve the problem so that no complaints occur.

Responding to questions, Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that after discovering violations and requesting to stop collecting, in the period 2016-2020, there were still 1,322 household heads who had to pay compulsory social insurance. According to him, household heads are both workers and income-generating, so participating in social insurance is essentially acceptable, but the law does not stipulate it.

"In essence and morality, there is nothing wrong, but it is stuck in the legal regulations because there is no contract," said Mr. Phuc, who believes that to overcome the problem, when amending the Law on Social Insurance, it is necessary to include the group of household heads in the mandatory payment category.

Hong Chieu

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