Central Provident Fund Act

(CHAPTER 36)

(Original Enactment: Ordinance 34 of 1953)

REVISED EDITION 1997

(20th December 1997)

An Act to make provision for a central provident fund.

[1st July 1955]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Central Provident Fund Act.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“Board” means the Central Provident Fund Board constituted under section 3;

“contract” means any contract, whether written or oral, and whether express or implied;

“employed” means engaged under a contract of service or apprenticeship or in an employment in respect of which contributions are payable under regulations made under section 77;

“employee” means any person who —

(a)

is employed in Singapore by an employer otherwise than as a master, seaman or apprentice in any vessel; or

(b)

being a citizen of Singapore is employed —

(i)	as a master, seaman or apprentice in any vessel, the owners of which have not been exempted from the provisions of this Act; and
(ii)	under a contract of service or other agreement entered into in Singapore;

“employer” means —

(a)	any person, company, association or body of persons, whether or not incorporated, by whom an employee is employed;
(b)	the owners of any vessel on which an employee is employed;
(c)	any manager, agent or person responsible for the payment of wages to an employee on behalf of an employer; and
(d)	the Government and Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom in respect of such categories, classes or descriptions of officers or employees of such Government as may from time to time be declared by the President by notification in the Gazette to be employees for the purposes of this Act, but no such officer or employee employed by or on behalf of such Government shall be personally liable for anything done or omitted to be done by him as an officer or employee of such Government in good faith;

“flat” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether the stratum or part is on one or more levels or is partially or wholly below the surface of the ground;

“Fund” means the Central Provident Fund established under section 6;

“immovable property” includes —

(a)	any estate or interest in land comprising a building or flat which is erected or to be erected on the land;
(b)	any undivided share in any estate or interest in land comprising several flats erected or to be erected thereon;

“inspector” means an inspector appointed under section 5(1);

“interest in land” means any interest in land recognised as such by law, and includes an estate in land;

“land” includes land, freehold or leasehold, or of whatever tenure, whether or not held apart from the surface, and buildings or parts thereof (whether completed or otherwise and whether divided horizontally, vertically or in any other manner), and tenements and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal;

“master” and “seaman” have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in the Merchant Shipping Act (Cap. 179);

“medisave account” means a medisave account maintained under section 13;

“member of the Fund” or “member” means any person to whose credit any amount is standing in the Fund;

“minimum sum” means the sum referred to in section 15(6);

“ordinary account” means an ordinary account maintained under section 13;

“retirement account” means the account referred to in section 15(6C);

“special account” means a special account maintained under section 13;

“wages” means the remuneration in money, including any bonus, due or granted to a person in respect of his employment.

[19/83; 32/84; 16/86; 5/87; 10/94]

Establishment and constitution of Central Provident Fund Board

3. For the purposes of this Act, there shall be a Board, called the Central Provident Fund Board, consisting of a Chairman, a Deputy Chairman as may be appointed under section 4(1) and (2) and such other members as may be appointed under section 4(4).

[27/92]

Membership of Board

4.—(1) The Minister, with the President’s concurrence under Article 22A(1)(b) of the Constitution, shall appoint a Chairman of the Board for a term of 3 years, or for such shorter term as the Minister may determine, and the Chairman shall be eligible for reappointment.

[11/91]

(2) The Minister, with the President’s concurrence under Article 22A(1)(b) of the Constitution, may appoint a Deputy Chairman of the Board for a term of 3 years, or for such shorter term as the Minister may determine, and the Deputy Chairman shall be eligible for reappointment.

[27/92]

(3) The Deputy Chairman may, subject to such directions as may be given by the Chairman, exercise all or any of the powers exercisable by the Chairman under this Act.

[27/92]

(4) The other members of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister with the President’s concurrence under Article 22A(1)(b) of the Constitution and shall consist of the following persons:

(a)	2 persons holding office of emolument under the Government;
(b)	2 persons representing employers;
(c)	2 persons representing employees; and
(d)	such other persons, not being more than 4, as the Minister may from time to time determine. [11/91]

(5) The quorum of the Board shall be 5.

(6) The Deputy Chairman shall, in the absence of the Chairman, preside at a meeting of the Board and, in the absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, such member as the members present may elect shall preside at the meeting.

[27/92]

(7) The members of the Board shall be paid such allowances as may be fixed by the Minister.

(8) The appointment of members of the Board, other than the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, shall be liable to be revoked at any time by the Minister but the members shall, unless their appointment is so revoked or they resign in the meantime, hold office for a term of 3 years or for such shorter period as the Minister may in any case determine.

[27/92]

(9) No revocation of the appointment of the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman or any other member of the Board shall be made without the President’s concurrence under Article 22A(1)(b) of the Constitution.

[11/91; 27/92]

(10) Any person who is a Member of Parliament shall be disqualified from being appointed to or remaining a member of the Board.

(11) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and shall have a common seal and may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

(12) All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Board shall be —

(a)	sealed with the common seal of the Board by the authority of the Board in the presence of the General Manageror a member of the Board and of some other person duly authorised by the Board to act in that behalf; and
(b)	signed by the General Manageror the member of the Board, as the case may be, and by that duly authorised person, and such signing shall be sufficient evidence that the common seal of the Board has been duly and properly affixed and that the seal is the lawful seal of the Board.

(13) The Board may by resolution or otherwise appoint an officer of the Board or any other agent either generally or in a particular case to execute or sign on behalf of the Board any agreement or other instrument not under seal in relation to any matter coming within the powers of the Board.

(14) Section 11 of the Registration of Deeds Act (Cap. 269) shall not apply to any instrument purporting to have been executed under subsection (12).

(15) The Board shall have such powers and shall perform such duties as are given or imposed by this Act or as may be prescribed by the Minister and the Minister or the Board may by instrument in writing delegate to any person all or any of those powers and duties.

(16) The Board, with the President’s concurrence under Article 22A(1)(b) of the Constitution, shall appoint a General Manager on such terms and conditions as it may determine.

[11/91]

(17) The Board shall have power to engage a staff consisting of such officers and employees as are in the opinion of the Board necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(18) The members of the Board and the employees thereof, of every description, shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Cap. 224).

(19) The Board may make rules for all or any of the purposes of this section and, in particular, may make rules —

(a)	for the conduct of its proceedings; and
(b)	for the appointment, promotion, dismissal, termination of service and disciplinary control of all persons employed by the Board.

Appointment of inspectors

5.—(1) The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, appoint such number of inspectors as it may consider necessary for carrying this Act into effect.

(2) The Commissioner for Labour and any Deputy Commissioner for Labour, Assistant Commissioner for Labour or inspecting officer appointed under the Employment Act (Cap. 91) may exercise all or any of the powers of an inspector.

(3) In the course of an inspection, an inspector may at any reasonable time —

(a)

enter any premises or place where he has reasonable cause to believe that a person is employed therein;

(b)

examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person with respect to any matters under this Act or which he may reasonably require information, any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been an employee or an employer, and require every such person to be examined and for the purposes of the examination may summon any such person to attend at the place and time specified in the summons;

(c)

put questions concerning employees to their employers or to any person who may be in charge of them, or to the employees themselves, or to any other person whom he may consider it desirable to question, and the employers or employees or other person shall be legally bound to answer the questions truthfully to the best of his ability;

(d)

require any employer to produce before him all or any of the employees employed by him together with any contract of service, book of account of salary, register and other document concerning the employees or their employment and to answer such questions relating thereto as he may think proper to ask;

(e)

require any employer to produce for his inspection the audited statements of accounts of his undertaking and other records relating to the accounts and to answer such questions relating thereto as he may think proper to ask; and

(f)

make copies of any book, document or paper required to be produced under paragraph (d) or (e) and take possession of the book, document or paper when in his opinion —

(i)	the copying thereof cannot reasonably be performed without taking possession;
(ii)	the book, document or paper may be tampered with unless possession is taken; or
(iii)	the book, document or paper may be required as evidence in any proceedings for an offence under this Act or in any proceedings for the recovery of any moneys due to the Fund.

(4) Subsection (3) shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to a person who is required by any regulations made pursuant to section 77(1)(e) to contribute to the Fund as it applies to an employer; and a reference to salary in that subsection shall be construed as a reference to income of that person.

[27/92]

(5) If any person —

(a)	wilfully delays an inspector or any of the officers referred to in subsection (2) in the exercise of any power under this section;
(b)	fails to comply with the requisition of an inspector or any such officer in pursuance of this section or to produce any record, certificate, notice or document which he is required by or in pursuance of this section to produce;
(c)	wilfully withholds any information as to who are the employees of any employer or as to who is the employer of any employee; or
(d)	conceals or prevents or attempts to conceal or prevent a person from appearing before or being examined by an inspector or such officer,

that person shall be deemed to obstruct an inspector or that officer in the execution of his duties under this Act.

(6) Any person who obstructs an inspector or any of the officers referred to in subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence.

Budget

5A.—(1) The Board shall in every financial year prepare a budget containing estimates of income and expenditure of the Board for the ensuing financial year and a supplementary budget (if necessary) for any financial year and present them to the President for his approval under Article 22B of the Constitution.

[11/91]

(2) The budget and supplementary budget (if any) when approved by the President shall be published in the Gazette.

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