REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
ACTS SUPPLEMENT
Published by Authority

NO. 9]Friday, February 26 [1999

The following Act was passed by Parliament on 11th February 1999 and assented to by the President on 20th February 1999:—
Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Act 1999

(No. 12 of 1999)


I assent.

ONG TENG CHEONG,
President.
20th February 1999.
Date of Commencement: 1st March 1999
An Act to amend the Central Provident Fund Act (Chapter 36 of the 1997 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) Act 1999 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
Amendment of section 4
2.  Section 4(12) of the Central Provident Fund Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “General Manager” wherever they appear in paragraphs (a) and (b), the words “, a Deputy General Manager”.
Amendment of section 13
3.  Section 13 (1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following paragraph:
(a)an ordinary account from which, apart from section 15(2) to (5), 18, 18A, 18B, 22 or 45 but subject to sections 14, 14A and 15A, withdrawals may be made in accordance with any regulations made under section 51(b) or 77 (1)(h), (i), (l), (m) or (p);”.
New section 14A
4.  The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 14, the following section:
Loan by Government to member
14A.—(1)  The Board may, on and from time to time after 1st March 1999, accept moneys lent by the Government to any member of the Fund pursuant to any approved loan scheme.
(2)  The Board shall credit the moneys lent to any member under subsection (1) into the ordinary account of that member.
(3)  Any moneys paid into the Fund under subsection (2) shall be deemed to be contributions for the purposes of this Act and those moneys or interest thereon may be withdrawn under the provisions of any regulations made under this Act for such purposes and in such manner as may be prescribed by the regulations.
(4)  Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Board may allow a member who has taken a loan from the Government pursuant to an approved loan scheme to withdraw any part of the contributions and interest standing to his credit in the Fund for the repayment of the loan and the payment of any interest or other charges which the member may from time to time be liable to pay to the Government under the terms and conditions of that loan.
(5)  The Board shall be entitled to receive any repayment and payment under subsection (4) on behalf of the Government.
(6)  Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Board shall be entitled to recover on behalf of the Government any moneys lent to a member pursuant to any approved loan scheme and which have been paid into the Fund for the benefit of the member under subsection (2), together with any interest and other charges which the member is liable to pay to the Government under the terms and conditions of the loan from any money standing to the credit of the member’s accounts in the Fund if —
(a)the member fails to pay any sum under the loan when due; or
(b)the member is in breach of any other term or condition of the loan.
(7)  Any moneys received or recovered by the Board from any member under subsection (5) or (6) shall be refunded forthwith to the Government.
(8)  In this section, “approved loan scheme” means a loan scheme approved by the Minister.”.
Amendment of section 15
5.  Section 15 (1) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “section 25 (2)” in the 3rd line and substituting the words “sections 14, 14A, 15A and 25 (2)”.
New section 15A
6.  The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 15, the following section:
Restrictions on withdrawals to ensure repayment of approved loan
15A.  Notwithstanding anything in section 15, a member of the Fund shall not be entitled to withdraw from the Fund any sum standing to his credit under section 15(2)(b), (c), (d) or (e) unless the Board is satisfied that all moneys lent to the member pursuant to any approved loan scheme within the meaning of section 14A and which have been paid into the Fund under section 14A(2) for the benefit of the member, together with any interest and other charges which the member is liable to pay to the Government under the terms and conditions of the loan, have been repaid to the Government.”.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 17
7.  Section 17 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:
Withdrawal from special account for loan, etc.
17.  The Board may allow a member to withdraw the whole or part of the moneys standing to his credit in his special account for all or any of the following purposes:
(a)for the payment of any loan taken by him for the purchase of any immovable property by the member in accordance with any regulations made under section 77;
(b)for the payment of improvement contributions due to the Housing and Development Board in respect of upgrading works carried out under Part IVA of the Housing and Development Act (Cap. 129), including the payment of such costs, fees or other incidental expenses arising from the upgrading works as are authorised by any regulations made under section 77.”.
Amendment of section 27
8.  Section 27 (2) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the word “discretion”, the words “but only after the Board is satisfied that all repayments of any loan given to the member by the Government under an approved loan scheme within the meaning of section 14A, together with all interest and other charges which the member is liable to pay to the Government under the terms and conditions of that loan, have been paid”.