eMPF teething problems 'inevitable'

June Chen

The chairman of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority Ayesha Macpherson Lau has said eMPF - a one-stop platform for handling the administration of all MPF schemes - is a massive system with very limited experience to learn from, therefore it's inevitable for it to encounter teething problems during the early stages of operation.

Following its official launch on June 26, five MPF schemes migrated their MPF account data onto the eMPF platform.

Over 100,000 downloads of the eMPF mobile application were recorded in five months, with 76,000 users registered, including employers, self-employed individuals and scheme members, official data showed.

However, in a recent press conference, Tik Chi-yuen, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said that around 10,000 eMPF users were facing difficulties or issues when using the platform. Issues ranged from MPF contributions not being displayed on the eMPF user page to the inability to check or withdraw funds through the app, among others.

At the same conference, an employee shared that his company started using the platform in June.

The user said he didn't see his MPF contributions for July until around two weeks ago, while the platform still showed zero contributions from August to October.

Responding to recent concerns on the operation of the eMPF platform, Lau rejected the allegation that some MPF contributions had "disappeared" after onboarding to the eMPF. She said that this was attributed to isolated cases in which some employers or scheme members - still unfamiliar with the electronic functions of the eMPF - had entered incomplete or inaccurate data when making contributions, resulting in the received contributions not being displayed promptly on the platform's user page.

MPFA said in the press release that the eMPF project team has addressed each case requiring assistance and proactively communicated with the concerned users.

Lau promised that the eMPF project team would handle all tasks, including requests for assistance, inquiries and complaints, in a holistic and efficient manner to promptly and properly address users' needs.

She said the team "is responsible for helping users adapt to the new system by providing timely assistance, education and promotion, enhancing communication, and so forth. While there have been isolated problems unrelated to the system operation per se, we will not tolerate any situation that may affect employees' rights in relation to their MPF benefits."

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui Ching-yu last week urged the MPFA and subsidiary eMPF Platform Company to resolve these problems and ensure that all contributions are handled appropriately as any situation affecting employees' MPF benefits is unacceptable.