THE Social Security Organisation (Socso) has expanded its scheme for the self-employed to 19 more sectors, effective Jan 1.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed, said the sectors were food and goods delivery, agriculture, online business, information technology, data processing, professional services, support services, animal husbandry, forestry, fishery, food business, construction, hawking, rental of premises, arts, home services, agents and therapy rehabilitation.
He said the Self-Employment Social Security Act 2017 came into effect on June 1, 2017, which made it mandatory for transportation sector players, such as self-employed taxi drivers, e-hailing and bus drivers, to contribute to the scheme.
“Those who are self-employed should not look at this as a burden as the contribution starts from as low as RM13.10 per month and RM157.20 per annum. The highest contribution is RM49.40 monthly or RM592.80 per annum ,” he said here yesterday.
Dr Mohammed said it was important to contribute, especially for sole breadwinners, so that they could care for their families should any untoward incident happen to them.
He gave an example of an e-hailing driver who paid a maximum contribution per month.
“His family is entitled to get RM3,500 per month as long as the wife is alive and the children have yet to reach the age of 21, should anything happen to him, according to the terms. Besides the benefits for family members, contributors can gain access to state-of-the art rehabilitation facilities.”
Dr Mohammed said as of the end of last year, there were 54,000 registered contributors, but some might have expired.
“We have 48,000 active registered contributors,” he said, adding that this was a small figure as there were 2.83 million people who were self-employed.
Dr Mohammed added that Socso would raise awareness on this and the importance of registering and being covered under the agency.
“I wish that everyone will register as it’s important to have a minimum standard of safety net. This is the Human Resources Ministry’s aim, which is to ensure Malaysians have social safety coverage.
“There are plans in the pipeline. We will go big by engaging with the media, conducting roadshows to engage with stakeholders, such as the local authorities, starting this week. Through them, we hope to reach out to hawkers too so that they would be covered.”
He said people should not take advantage of Socso’s scheme.
“Besides identity documents, if they are self-employed, they need to provide proof of business registration, and for hawkers, a permit from the local authorities.”
Dr Mohammed added that when it came to enforcement, Socso had always engaged with the public.
“We had taken action under Op Kesan as stipulated under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 (against errant employers), but we still provide an amnesty period for those who failed to contribute for their employees.
“For the self-employed, we want to take an awareness approach to get more of them to be registered, rather than issuing them compounds.”