Central Provident Fund (Amendment No. 2) Bill

Bill No. 28/1992

Read the first time on 29th May 1992.

An Act to amend the Central Provident Fund Act (Chapter 36 of the 1991 Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Central Provident Fund (Amendment No. 2) Act 1992 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 3

2. Section 3 of the Central Provident Fund Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “Chairman” the words “, a Deputy Chairman as may be appointed under section 4 (1A)”.

Amendment of section 4

3. Section 4 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (1), the following subsections:

“(1A) 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.

(1B) 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.”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection:

“(3A) 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 Deputy Chairman, such member as the members present may elect shall preside at the meeting.”;

(c)

by inserting, immediately after the word “Chairman” in the second line of subsection (5), the words “and Deputy Chairman”; and

(d)

by inserting, immediately after the word “Chairman” in the second line of subsection (5A), the words “, Deputy Chairman”.

Amendment of section 5

4. Section 5 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection:

“(3A) 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.”.

Amendment of section 9

5. Section 9 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (1), the following subsection:

“(1A) Where the amount of the contributions a person is liable to pay under any regulations made pursuant to section 77(1)(e) is not paid within the time prescribed for payment, that person shall be liable to pay interest on that amount for every day the amount remains unpaid at such rate and commencing from such date as may be prescribed.”; and

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the words “subsection (1)” in subsection (2), the words “or (1A)”.

Amendment of section 10

6. Section 10 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “section 11(1)” and substituting the words “the Second Schedule”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 11

7. Section 11 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Financial provisions

11. The financial provisions set out in the Second Schedule shall apply to the Board.”.

Amendment of section 13

8. Section 13 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting the words “or (k)” in the fifth line of subsection (1)(a) and substituting the words “, (k) or (n)”;

(b)

by deleting subsection (5) and substituting the following subsection:

“(5) Where any contributions are paid into the Fund by any person pursuant to any regulations made under section 77(1)(e), the Board shall credit every such contribution into a medisave account, ordinary account or a special account, for the purposes specified in subsection (1), in such manner as the Minister may direct, and the Minister may give different directions in respect of different classes of members.”; and

(c)

by inserting, immediately after subsection (6), the following subsection:

“(7) Where there is no balance in the medisave account of a member, the Board may, upon application by the member and with the approval of the Minister, transfer to the medisave account of the member any amount standing to his credit in the ordinary account which had been transferred from the medisave account, including any interest which would have accrued thereon if the transfer had not been made.”.

New section 13A

9. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 13, the following section:

“Power to impose conditions relating to contributions by self-employed persons

13A.—(1) Any power to grant or renew a licence, certificate or permit under any of the Acts specified in the Third Schedule or any rules or regulations made thereunder shall include a power to impose conditions relating to the payment of contributions into the Fund, pursuant to any regulations made under section 77(1)(e), to be credited into the medisave account of the applicant or licensee or as otherwise provided under section 13(5).

(2) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, amend the Third Schedule.”.

Amendment of section 63

10. Section 63 (1) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “Board” in the first line, the words “or any person authorised by the Board in writing”.

Amendment of section 77

11. Section 77 (1) of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after paragraph (f), the following paragraph:

“(fa)

to provide that the Board may, with the approval of the Minister, appoint any agent (including the Government or any statutory body) for the assessment, collection or recovery of contributions payable under this Act or any regulations made thereunder and any interest thereon and that such agent may be delegated such duties, powers and functions of the Board or its officers under this Act as may be prescribed;”;

(b)

by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (m); and

(c)

by deleting paragraph (n) and substituting the following paragraphs:

“(n)

to provide for members of the Fund to apply or withdraw all or part of the contributions and interest standing to their credit in the Fund for the payment of improvement contributions due to the Housing and Development Board constituted under the Housing and Development Act (Cap. 129) in respect of upgrading works carried out under Part IVA of that Act including the payment of costs, fees or other incidental expenses arising from such works; and

(o)

as are necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the purposes and provisions of this Act.”.

Miscellaneous amendments

12. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately before the word “Schedule” wherever it appears in the following provisions, in each case the word “First”:

Sections 7(1), (2), (4), (6) to (11), 8, 70(1), 75(1) and 77(1)(i) and (m).

Amendment of Schedule

13. The Schedule to the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “THE SCHEDULE” in the heading and substituting the words “FIRST SCHEDULE”.

New Second and Third Schedules

14. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the First Schedule, the following Schedules:

“SECOND SCHEDULE

Section 11

Financial Provisions

1.—(1) The Board shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made, properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Board and over the expenditure incurred by the Board.

(2) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit financial statements in respect of that year to the auditor of the Board.

2.—(1) The accounts of the Board shall be audited at least once annually by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under sub-paragraph (1) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 50).

(3) The remuneration of the auditor shall be paid out of the funds of the Board.

3. The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Board and may make copies of or extracts from any such accounting and other records.

4.—(1) The auditor shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Board;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Board whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
(c)	whether receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Board during the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and
(d)	such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.

(2) The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Board. He shall also submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Board as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Board may require.

5.—(1) The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

(2) Any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with any requirement of the auditor under sub-paragraph (1) or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

6.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of the auditor’s report.

(2) Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Board, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General when they are submitted to the Board.

(3) The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report to be published in the Gazette and presented to Parliament.

7. The Chairman of the Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, submit to the Board an account of the revenue and expenditure of the Fund, of the contributions received, of withdrawals made and of interest credited to members during the preceding financial year together with a statement of the assets and liabilities of the Fund.

8.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Minister a report dealing generally with the activities of the Board during the preceding financial year and containing such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the Board as the Minister may from time to time direct.

(2) The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of every such report to be presented to Parliament.

9. The financial year of the Board shall be determined by the Board.

THIRD SCHEDULE

Section 13A

Specified Acts

1.	Animals and Birds Act (Cap. 7).

2.	Auctioneer’ Licences Act (Cap. 16).

3.	Child Care Centres Act (Cap. 37A).

4.	Commodity Futures Act 1992 (Act 17 of 1992).

5.	Customs Act (Cap. 70).

6.	Electrical Workers and Contractors Licensing Act (Cap. 89).

7.	Employment Agencies Act (Cap. 92).

8.	Environmental Public Health Act (Cap. 95).

9.	Factories Act (Cap. 104).

10.	Films Act (Cap. 107).

11.	Fisheries Act (Cap. 111).

12.	Futures Trading Act (Cap. 116).

13.	Homes for the Aged Act (Cap. 126A).

14.	Massage Establishments Act (Cap. 173).

15.	Money-changing and Remittance Businesses Act (Cap. 187).

16.	Moneylenders Act (Cap. 188).

17.	Parking Places Act (Cap. 214).

18.	Pawnbrokers Act (Cap. 222).

19.	Planning Act (Cap. 232).

20.	Port of Singapore Authority Act (Cap. 236).

21.	Private Investigation and Security Agencies Act (Cap. 249).

22.	Public Entertainments Act (Cap. 257).

23.	Public Utilities Act (Cap. 261).

24.	Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276).

25.	Rubber Industry Act 1992 (Act 15 of 1992).

26.	Sale of Food Act (Cap. 283).

27.	Secondhand Dealers Act (Cap. 288).

28.	Securities Industry Act (Cap. 289).

29.	Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act 1992 (Act 12 of 1992).

30.	Tourist Promotion Board Act (Cap. 328).

31.	Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act (Cap. 348).”.

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