The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority’s “MPF Express” platform will be fully operational and “offsetting” arrangements will be cancelled. MPF Authority Chairman, Liu Mai Jiaxuan, announced in a blog post today that the “MPF Express” platform will be launched on June 26 this year, with all Mandatory Provident Fund schemes expected to be integrated into the platform by 2025.
According to Liu Mai Jiaxuan, after the launch of the “MPF Express” platform on June 26 this year, the first Mandatory Provident Fund scheme will be the first to join the platform, and the remaining schemes will gradually be added based on the principle of “small first, then big” according to their size. She emphasized that the purpose of the “MPF Express” platform is to replace the current administrative systems of Mandatory Provident Fund schemes managed by various trustees, and instead centralize these processes on a unified electronic platform to enhance management efficiency and reduce administrative costs.
Once their Mandatory Provident Fund scheme is integrated into the platform, workers who have registered can conveniently check their fund status anytime and anywhere using a smartphone or computer. For example, they can monitor whether their employers make timely contributions each month to safeguard their MPF rights. Employers who register for an account on the “MPF Express” platform will have their MPF administrative work streamlined through automated processes, reducing the possibility of human errors.
Additionally, the “MPF Express” platform enables the MPF Authority to more promptly monitor employers’ contribution statuses and handle outstanding payment reports. This allows for quicker action on non-compliant cases, such as issuing “reminder notices” to violative employers. The timeframe for following up on outstanding payments has been expedited from the previous six weeks post-payment period to three weeks, urging delinquent employers to settle their dues sooner.
Furthermore, the blog revealed that in the 2023-24 financial year, the MPF Authority inspected over 1,200 employment venues and handled more than 37,000 cases of employers defaulting on contributions. The number of “reminder notices” issued exceeded 376,000, representing a 9% and 19% increase compared to the preceding two financial years, respectively. The Authority also successfully recovered around HK$155 million in outstanding payments for over 96,000 employees, marking a 7% and 11% increase in recovered arrears compared to the previous two fiscal years.