Prepaid fees are a common business model that is widely used in the service industry. With the rapid development of elderly care services in mainland China, some elderly care institutions have also adopted a pre-charge mode of operation. However, after collecting large amounts of fees in advance, there are cases of irregular use of fund management, broken capital chains, bankruptcy and bankruptcy, and even criminals carry out illegal fund-raising under the guise of pension services.
How to supervise the advance fees of pension institutions to protect the pension money of the elderly?
In order to standardize the behavior of pre-charging of pension institutions and strengthen governance from the source, the Ministry of Civil Affairs held a press conference on the 10th to introduce the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Supervision of Pre-charging of Pension Institutions" issued by seven departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The "Opinions" put forward clear requirements for the collection, use and refund of advance fees for pension institutions, so as to achieve full-chain supervision.
What are the prepaid fees?
The "Opinions" make it clear that the fees collected in advance by pension institutions mainly include pension service fees, deposits and membership fees.
The period of advance collection of pension service fees shall not exceed 12 months
The "Opinions" make it clear that the period of advance collection of pension service fees shall not exceed 12 months, and the deposit charged to a single elderly person shall not exceed 12 times the monthly bed fee of the elderly. Where pension institutions collect membership fees, the number of members shall not exceed the bed supply capacity to commit services, ensure that the total number of elderly people who pay fees shall not exceed the total number of beds on their record, and the total amount of advance fees shall not exceed their net fixed assets.
The "Opinions" clarify the purpose of pre-charging for pension institutions
The "Opinions" stipulate that the advance fees of pension institutions are mainly used to offset the expenses that the elderly need to pay during their stay in the institutions, make up for the lack of funds for the construction of the facilities of the institutions, or develop the pension service business of the institutions.
Those who meet the agreed conditions for refund shall be refunded in a timely manner
For the advance fees that meet the refund conditions agreed in the service agreement, the pension institution shall refund the fee in a timely manner in accordance with the agreement, and shall not refuse or delay. Where pension establishments suspend or terminate services due to suspension or closure of business, they shall publish a reminder of changes in business conditions in conspicuous locations such as service venues and web portals 30 days in advance, and promptly refund the remaining fees.
At the press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs introduced that the "Opinions" also clarified three safety "bottom lines".
It is strictly forbidden for elderly care institutions to exceed the bed supply capacity and "sell more than one bed";
Strictly limit the use of prepaid funds for pension institutions, and do not allow funds raised under the guise of pension to be diverted for other purposes, and the prepaid fees are alienated into a means of collecting money;
It is expressly forbidden to induce the elderly and their families to pay fees by promising to repay principal and interest, giving other investment returns, etc., which is a typical illegal fund-raising behavior.
Illegally absorbing public deposits in the name of "investment pension".
In recent years, some lawbreakers have carried out illegal fund-raising and fraud under the guise of pension, and some pension institutions have "difficulty in refunding", "thunderstorming" and "running away" and other problems have occurred from time to time, seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly.
In 2016, some old people in Leping City, Jiangxi Province often receive some leaflets in the community or park, promoting the high-end pension institutions developed by Hunan Sun Mountain Group in Leping, the old people only need to pay 10,000 to 50,000 yuan of membership fees, you can enjoy discounts and on-site rebates for living in nursing homes, even if the elderly do not go to live in nursing institutions, the investment money can be returned after three years and there is interest.
In order to attract more investment from the elderly, the so-called elderly care institution took some elderly people to local hotels to listen to lectures and take them to visit the so-called elderly care center under construction, and eventually 51 elderly people were deceived. Later, it was found that Lu Peng, the person in charge of the project, and a number of relatives had illegally absorbed public deposits in many places across the country, and the relevant persons in charge were also brought to justice.
More than 1,000 people were defrauded in the name of "investment pension".
In 2023, the People's Court of Longyang District, Baoshan, Yunnan Province publicly tried a case of investment in pension pyramid schemes. A company claims to have a minimum investment of 6,000 yuan, which can not only make money but also live and retire.
Mr. Qi is one of the victims, and Mr. Qi said that according to him, he can return to his capital in three months. The day after Mr. Qi's investment, the income in the account did begin to come in, and after that, the company also took the elderly to visit some resorts under construction, and said that these places are the places where they can retire in the future. Until one day, Mr. Qi and others found that the money in the mobile app could not be withdrawn, and they came to inquire only to find that the company had already gone to the empty building. After investigation and evidence collection by relevant departments, the company with the title of pension has been suspected of pyramid schemes, involving more than 1,400 people and involving more than 20 million yuan.
Crack down on pension fraud
In order to effectively safeguard the health and property safety of the elderly, in recent years, relevant departments have continued to maintain a high-pressure situation to crack down on fraud in the field of pension.
Since April 2022, the Ping An China Construction Coordination Group has deployed a six-month special operation to crack down on pension fraud. In this operation, the civil affairs departments across the country have investigated more than 270,000 pension service institutions and places, and banned and shut down 510 "black institutions". Public security organs across the country have cracked more than 39,000 cases, smashed more than 4,730 gangs, and recovered more than 300 billion yuan in stolen goods. Procuratorates across the country approved the arrest of 7,594 people for various pension fraud crimes and prosecuted 8,516 people.
Differentiated management Deposits and membership fees are strictly supervised
The "Opinions" issued this time also carry out differentiated management of the three types of advance fees such as pension service fees, deposits and membership fees according to the type of risk, and strictly supervise the deposits and membership fees with a higher degree of risk.
The "Opinions" put forward that the pension service fee should be subject to special inspection, spot check audit, risk monitoring and other daily supervision methods.
The deposit and membership fee shall be managed by the third-party depository and risk margin of the bank to ensure that the special funds are used exclusively.
Pension institutions sign a tripartite depository agreement with the civil affairs department and the depository bank to open a special deposit account.
The deposit and membership fee collected in advance by the pension institution shall be deposited into the special deposit account of the depository in a timely manner.
A certain amount of funds shall be retained in the special deposit account as risk margin, and the retention ratio shall not be less than 10% of the total membership fee of the account in the past three years, and shall not be less than 20% of the current balance of the account.
When there is an abnormal flow of funds in the special deposit account and the account balance reaches the minimum proportion of risk margin, except for the refund, the depository bank shall not handle the expenditure for the pension institution, and at the same time shall make a risk warning to the civil affairs department responsible for supervision, and report the relevant situation to the relevant regulatory department in a timely manner.
Some provinces have taken the lead in piloting to effectively prevent the risk of pension funds
The reporter combed and found that before the issuance of the "Opinions", Jiangxi, Hubei, Shandong and other provinces have issued provincial documents, making clear provisions on the management of membership fees and capital supervision.
In 2021, Jiangxi Province issued the Administrative Measures for the Prepayment of Pension Institutions, requiring pension institutions to collect pension service fees on a monthly basis in principle, and the longest period generally shall not exceed 12 months. Emergency expenses such as medical reserve funds are determined through negotiation based on the physical health of the elderly, and generally do not exceed 10,000 yuan.
Liaocheng City, Shandong Province from last year began to try by the civil affairs department, pension institutions, banks signed an agreement on the method of pre-charged funds supervision, the local civil affairs department has built a smart supervision platform, the elderly can pay through the platform, and the regulatory authorities can also supervise the pre-charged funds through the platform.
What else should I pay attention to when choosing a pension institution and paying fees?
The "Opinions" issued this time standardize the prepayment behavior of pension institutions, and ensure the property safety of the elderly from the institutional level. So, what else do the elderly need to pay attention to when choosing a pension institution and paying fees? The Ministry of Civil Affairs reminded that it is necessary to achieve "four looks".
To see whether the institution is legitimate, it is necessary to choose a pension institution with qualifications and a good reputation, and check its business license or legal person registration certificate and the record certificate of the pension institution issued by the civil affairs department.
See whether the fees are public, and all the fees of the pension institution must be publicized. The elderly can view information such as pre-charged items and standards in prominent places such as service places and web portals of elderly care institutions.
To see whether the agreement is reasonable, before signing the agreement, you should carefully check the service items, charging standards, management methods, refund conditions and methods, and liability for breach of contract specified in the contract. If you encounter unreasonable standard terms, the elderly have the right to refuse.
When paying the fee, it is necessary to identify whether the collection account is the account of the pension institution, and do not remit the money to the account of the so-called affiliated company of the pension institution and the personal account of the salesman and the person in charge. After paying the fee, you should ask for an invoice from the pension institution, and properly keep the invoice or other consumption vouchers.
Li Banghua, Deputy Director of the Department of Pension Services of the Ministry of Civil Affairs: We also remind the elderly that in the face of low prices, discounts and discounts, they should also be cautious and choose the most suitable payment method for themselves. In particular, it is necessary to raise awareness of risk prevention, do not believe in the promise of investment rebates and high returns, and consciously stay away from illegal fundraising.
(CCTV reporter Li Yumei, Hao Liang, Yao Jieyang, Shandong Station, Jiangxi Station)
(Source: CCTV News)