Stabroek Business has been reliably informed that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) is seeking to have delinquent ministers of government, other members of Parliament and advisers to comply with regulations that require them to pay national insurance contributions for themselves and their employees.

Stabroek Business has learnt that while ministers are in receipt of subventions from parliament to pay contributions for gardeners, chauffeurs and housekeepers. These payments are not made to the NIS in all cases. Stabroek Business also understands that some parliamentarians and government advisers/ consultants who are classified as self-employed have failed to register either as self-employed persons or as employers.

An NIS source has confirmed that the scheme has begun to engage defaulting parliamentarians and official advisers on the issue of complying with the scheme’s regulations. The source also confirmed that the NIS had been in receipt of complaints from employees of some public officials regarding serious lapses in the payment of their NIS contributions.

According to the source while exchanges between the NIS’ Compliance Department and the defaulting officials had led to satisfactory outcomes in some cases there were still instances of non-compliance with the regulations. The source told Stabroek Business that the problem of non compliance with NIS regulations by parliamentarians had been a problem “for decades” and that the scheme was now prepared to move to the courts against offenders if approaches designed to ensure compliance failed.