By Chino S. Leyco

State-run Social Security System (SSS) has extended the payment deadline for contribution payments for January to December this year for members except Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Emmanuel F. Dooc, SSS president and chief executive, said that they issued Social Security Commission (SSC) Resolution No. 728.s-2018 last year September 12 that effectively revised the deadline for the payment of contributions for 2018.

“We have decided to adjust the payment deadline for our employers and individual members to accommodate those who are willing to pay their monthly premiums to SSS but were slightly affected by the birth pains of the pilot implementation of the Real-Time Processing of Contributions (RTPC) program,” Dooc said.

RTPC requires members to update their information with SSS and generate a unique payment reference number (PRN) before paying their premiums.

Dooc clarified, however, that the new payment deadline does not apply to OFW-members, who can pay their January to December contributions any time within the same year and their contributions for the last quarter until January 31 of the following year.

Based on SSS Circular 2018-022, the deadline of payment of contributions for regular employers is revised from the current schedule, which is based on the 10th digit of the 13-digit SSS number of the employer, to the end of the month following the applicable month.

For example, an employer must pay the contributions of its employees for the month of October 2018 by the end of November 2018.

On the other hand, household employers and individual members have until the end of the year to pay their monthly contributions. Since the last day of December 2018 is a non-working holiday, the payment deadline will be on January 2, 2019.

Further, contributions for the fourth quarter of 2018 may also be paid on or before January 31, 2019.

“We hope that with the revised payment deadlines, self-employed voluntary members will be able to pay their contributions accordingly. We are also expecting that regular and household employers will have no excuse for settling their obligations to SSS on time,” Dooc said.

Dooc further reminded members and employers that in case of advance payments, only the contributions to the months prior to any contingency entitling the member or his beneficiary to any benefit from the SSS shall be considered in the computation of such benefit.

The rest shall be refunded in case of a final claim or credited to his future accounts, in accordance with the existing rules, Dooc said.

He also advised members and employers that while necessary enhancements to the application system for the revised payment deadline is still on-going, they may go to any Automated Tellering System (ATS) in SSS branches nationwide for payment transactions.

Under the Real-Time Processing of Contributions (RTPC) program, a member needs to present his or her PRN before paying so that their contributions will be posted real-time, thus, allowing them to avail of their benefits and privileges on time.

SSS members can generate their PRNs in three ways: (1) thru their My.SSS online account found in the agency website, (2) thru the PRN inquiry facility of the collection partners of SSS, or (3) thru any of the SSS branches nationwide.

Once paid using the PRN, contribution payments of the members will be posted instantaneously and they will receive notifications via SMS that their contributions have been posted.