Sagicor to manage LIME-backed taxi pension plan
Published:Wednesday | March 9, 2011 | 12:00 AM
LIME Jamaica has committed financial backing for a new pension plan for 21,000 taxi operators who fall under the umbrella National Council of Taxi Associations (NCTA).
Sagicor Life Jamaica will manage the fund.
The pension plan is part of an arrangement between the telecom and the group of taxi associations for the provision of closed user group coverage for its members.
LIME has pledged J$6 million over three years.
Deon Chance, president of the NCTA, told Wednesday Business that to participate in the pension fund the member must subscribe to the closed user group.
Members would approach Sagicor individually to sign up and would be responsible for their individual payments on a monthly basis, Chance said in a telephone interview.
He said that LIME, in addition to its annual contribution, has also agreed to sponsor fund-raising activities put on by the association, the proceeds of which would go towards the fund.
According to Chance, Sagicor is addressing the technical aspects of the fund, which would be established as soon as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) gives clearance. He said that a board of trustees, two members of which would be drawn from the NCTA, would be established to oversee the fund.
Dorothy Cunningham, financial adviser at Sagicor, said the pension fund would be established in the name of the taxi association, whose legal team would monitor and determine disbursements as and when necessary.
She said the associations were discussing the possibility of setting up a trust fund, the details and the operation of which would be determined by their legal representatives.
Under the arrangement each NCTA member will make an initial payment of J$800 to LIME for a handset, and thereafter a monthly user fee of J$300 for unlimited talk and texts. LIME will also provide landline and Internet service to the respective associations and their members at discounted rates, as well as special deals on mobile handsets, laptops, netbooks and desktop computers.