The Alliance For Change (AFC) has backed the High Court challenge over alleged underpayments of minimum National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensions, saying any arrears found to be owed should be transparently calculated and paid, including to the estates of deceased pensioners.
In a statement issued yesterday, the party urged the National Insurance Board and the government to cooperate fully with the proceedings, preserve relevant records and provide the information needed for a timely determination.
The application, brought by Christopher Ram, pensioner Kalicharan Heera and three unions, seeks a ruling on the requirement that the minimum NIS old-age pension be no less than half the Public Service minimum wage.
“The AFC’s position is straightforward: the rule of law must be upheld. Public authorities must act within the Constitution and the laws made under it,” the party stated.
“Where a law establishes a benefit or a minimum payment, that requirement cannot be set aside, delayed or treated as optional through administrative practice.”
The applicants contend that, based on the 2026 Public Service minimum wage of $102,346, the minimum monthly pension should be $51,173. They put the published NIS minimum pension at $43,075, representing an alleged monthly shortfall of $8,098.
Their calculation suggests that pensioners who received the minimum throughout the period since 2021 could each be owed approximately $510,300.
The AFC said the proceedings must establish the correct interpretation of the law, which pensioners are affected and what sums, if any, are due.
It also rejected any suggestion that responsibility rested solely with the National Insurance Board.
“Government cannot avoid responsibility by simply pointing to the National Insurance Board,” the party said.
The AFC pointed to the Finance Ministry’s oversight of the scheme and the statutory provision for Parliament to advance funds where the National Insurance Fund temporarily lacks sufficient assets to meet its liabilities. It acknowledged that the precise responsibilities of the parties were matters for the court.
“Pensioners contributed to the Scheme and depend on its benefits in later life. They are entitled to know whether the payments they receive comply with the law,” the statement added.
The party said that if the Board disputed the claim, it should present its legal and factual basis through the proceedings. It also called for the court to be allowed to decide the matter independently and without political interference.
Kiskadee Watch reported on October 10 that the judicial review application had been filed the previous day. Alongside Ram and Heera, the applicants are the Union of Agricultural and Allied Workers, the United Minibus Union and the Guyana Market Vendors Union.
They are seeking declarations that the 50 per cent pension floor is mandatory, an order requiring payment at that rate, and an account and payment of arrears since 2021, with interest, including sums owed to deceased pensioners’ estates.
The proceedings followed an October 1 letter from Ram and representatives of 10 unions giving the Board seven days to state its position and account for the alleged underpayments.
The letter said Regulation 4(b) of the Benefit Regulations was amended in 2015 to raise the minimum pension from 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the Public Service minimum wage.
The signatories maintained that the requirement was last met in 2020, when the minimum wage was $70,000 and the minimum NIS pension was $35,000. They argued that later pension increases would not extinguish arrears already accrued, and questioned why retroactive wage increases had not produced corresponding pension adjustments.
NIS Chairman Ramesh Persaud declined to comment when Kiskadee Watch contacted him on October 5 about the allegations and the demand letter. He said he had no comment on the matter at that time.
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