NTUC Income relief scheme managed inefficiently
It has been more than two months since the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) started administering the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (Sirs), and it seems clear to me that NTUC does not have the resources to manage a project of this scale.

When applications first opened, many were unable to submit them because the NTUC website was overwhelmed by the large volume of applications (Flood of claims stalls website for self-employed income relief, April 28). I was one of them, and could not submit my application until much later.

I was also surprised to learn that there is no system in place to synchronise information across different ministries and statutory boards. I thought that the launch of SingPass was meant to fill this role.

When I called NTUC's hotline to ask for information on why my application was not approved, I was first put on hold for more than an hour, then told to contact the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board as NTUC did not have the information.

When I called the CPF Board, I again had to wait for more than an hour, only to be told that I should have contacted the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) instead. It then took me several days before I was able to get through to Iras' hotline.

Having one system in place, where the people in charge of processing Sirs applications could have access to all the necessary information, would have sped up the process of approval.

Benjamin Ong

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/forum-income-relief-scheme-managed-inefficiently

Add Comment

---