Reporter: Yin Siyuan
If you get a membership card of the pension card, you can enjoy high discounts and return high interest; The more the principal is paid, the greater the discount of the pension project, and even the principal can be refunded; About 10% of the bed subsidy coupon will be given every full year, and after the expiration of the contract, the principal will be returned and the subsidy coupon will be repurchased in cash......
It is these "bait" with high discounts and high cashbacks that make the pension money that many elderly people have worked hard to save all their lives go down the drain. The cases of such illegal fund-raising fraud that are exposed from time to time have stripped off the gorgeous "painted skin" of the pension service scam:
It is difficult to fulfill the contractual obligations of high fees in advance, and the "tourism pension", "health pension" and "lifelong pension" that sound beautiful are actually "Ponzi schemes" that covet the money of the elderly.
The industry is so chaotic and the water is so "muddy", it is urgent to rectify it!
The Ministry of Civil Affairs and other seven departments have recently issued guidance on the detailed supervision of the advance fees of pension institutions, which can be regarded as choking the "seven inches" of the poisonous snake of pension fraud, and it is expected to tie another "safety rope" for the pension "money bag".
The mainland has entered an aging society. With the joint efforts of national finance and social capital, socialized pension came into being, and the industry ushered in a rare development opportunity. However, some ill-intentioned people have set their sights on people's "money bags" for the elderly.
"High interest rebate, return the principal at maturity", "Apply for a membership card, enjoy the pension service", "One-time payment, lifelong service"...... Publicity such as this has made many elderly people excited. As everyone knows, behind these propaganda, there are elaborate calculations.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs has published such cases:
A pension company in Hunan claimed that it could apply for a membership card of "National Pension and Health Card", and enjoy the company's services in many places with discounts on the card; If the funds in the card are not consumed, the interest can be refunded after one year. In two and a half years, the company has applied for membership cards for more than 160 elderly people, charging more than 12 million yuan. Later, it was discovered that the company had no relevant business entity at all, and the money paid by the old man was squandered indiscriminately.
A pension service company in Henan Province has set up fund-raising points in many places across the country, and in the name of preparing to build apartments for the elderly and pension companies, it has vigorously promoted member consumption cards, made appointments for equity subscriptions, and illegally raised more than 500 million yuan from more than 6,000 people. Later, the capital chain was broken, and 360 million yuan was still unpaid at the time of the case.
Similar cases show that criminals take advantage of the psychology of the elderly who want to enjoy low-priced, high-quality pension services, and under the guise of pension services, they trick the elderly into recharging in advance and defrauding them of money by applying for cards, recharging, booking beds, and providing minimum living margins.
A key part of these chaos in the field of pension is prepayment. Aiming at the chaos of pension and controlling the money, it also pinched the "seven inches" of defrauding with pension.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs and other seven departments recently issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Supervision of Advance Fees for Pension Institutions", focusing on standardizing the pre-charging behavior of pension institutions and strengthening governance from the source.
The Guiding Opinions consist of 14 items in four parts, which make detailed provisions on the issues that are easy to cause disputes in the field of pension services, and make detailed provisions on advance fees. The main highlights are:
Stipulate the requirements for collection. The opinions define the concept of advance fees, incorporate pension service fees, deposits and membership fees into the full scope of supervision, and implement differentiated management according to the actual situation. The period for proposing the 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 person.
Restricted use. The opinions make it clear that the deposit shall not be spent except for the refund of fees, the payment of medical expenses for the elderly in emergencies, the deduction of the arrears of pension service fees for the elderly, or the liquidated damages and compensation that should be paid to the pension institutions. Clarify the restrictive provisions of advance fees to ensure that the funds are earmarked.
Clarify protocol management. Focus on issues that are likely to cause disputes, and standardize the signing of agreements, notification of risks, issuance of invoices, refund of fees, and dispute resolution, so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly to the greatest extent.
In terms of solving the "difficulty in refund", the opinions put forward that 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.
The "financialization" of pension products is extremely attractive and deceptive to the elderly, and there are objective difficulties in the supervision of some functional departments. The opinions focus on the whole process of supervision, which helps to prevent problems before they occur.
Allowing the elderly to live in old age has been the dream of the Chinese since ancient times.
Written in the Han Dynasty's "Book of Rites and Rites", there is a concept of "old age has an end".
The vitality of the policy lies in its implementation. After a good policy is formulated, high-quality and efficient implementation is the key. To let the elderly enjoy their old age in peace, we must first guard the "money bag" of the elderly.
Vain is not enough. The opinions of the seven departments provide principled guidance, and the specific implementation still needs to be further refined. Relevant departments should increase the daily inspection of pension service institutions and facilities, and must take the initiative to attack illegal fund-raising that infringes on the rights and interests of the elderly.
Elderly friends and family members also need to keep their eyes open, enhance their awareness of risk prevention, and be wary of false propaganda such as "high returns" and "lifelong pension". After purchasing services, it is necessary to properly keep the invoices or other consumption vouchers, and claim rights in accordance with laws and regulations in the event of consumer disputes.
Allowing the elderly to enjoy their old age requires the participation of the whole society. Carry out knowledge popularization and propaganda activities, use language and methods that the elderly can hear, understand, and listen to, improve the ability of the elderly to prevent risks, and effectively cut off the black hand that reaches out to the "money bag" of the elderly, so as to better ensure the happy and healthy life of the elderly in their old age.
(Title picture comic: Pan Hongyu)
Source: Xinhua News Agency "Qianbi Building"