New Time-frames to submit formal responses to pension fund adjudicator

The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (“OPFA”) has amended the time-frames for submitting formal responses to PFA complaints. The details of this amendment are set out below.

Office of the pension fund adjudicator (OPFA) Communication 1 of 2022 On the 29th of March 2022, the OPFA published a communication which amends the time-frames for submission of formal responses to PFA complaints.

Refer-to-fund (RTF) process The OPFA introduced a Refer-To-Fund (RFT) process as explained in OPFA Communication 2 of 2020. In terms of this process, the fund and complainant have 30 days to resolve the complaint amicably between themselves before the OPFA formally investigates the complaint. This process remains unchanged.

Previous time frames after RTF process In the past, if the dispute remained unresolved between the parties following the finalisation of the RTF process, then the OPFA’s practice has been to grant the respondents 30 days to provide a formal response and a further 14 days if an extension is required. These time-frames have been changed.

Time frames after RTF process The OPFA has stated that in the interests of fairness and to ensure the quick resolution of complaints, the previous time-frames following the finalisation of the RTF process have been amended. The respondents are now allowed 20 days to provide a formal response to a PFA complaint and a further 10 days if an extension is required. The days referred to are business days (i.e. excluding weekends and public holidays).