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| Sunday, 9 February 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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ETF income grows after reorganisation The Employees' Trust Fund Board (ETF) has recorded 17-18 per cent growth in its income for 2002. This, according to ETF sources, will enable the Fund to declare a dividend and interest of 12 per cent for last year. These results were achieved after ETF revamped its operations in March 2002. During this period processing a claim took one to six months while Annual Member Statements were in arrears since end-1998. According to ETF Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody, the Board would be able to provide real time registration and balances to members once the backlog of statements is cleared. Though disability insurance, financial assistance for intra-ocular lens implant and heart surgery, hospitalisation insurance schemes and year five scholarship schemes were available for members, many were not aware of them and were not conversant with the applications procedure. This situation was compounded by the dysfunctional member administration software system. Eight of the 10 regional branches were running at an operational deficit. The new management reorganised the customer service interface by creating a unit comprising two customer service coordinators and four support staff. It was able to reduce processing lead time of normal claims to 21 days which to date has a compliance rate of 65 per cent. Express claim processing was introduced for those who urgently need benefits. Such claims at present are being processed within two working days at a fee which is levied to defray the additional resources deployed to process them. Despite protests at the beginning, it remains ETF's most popular service. However, the Board has not overlooked the genuine claimant who cannot afford an additional fee, but needs claims processed urgently. The procedure for processing special claims within 14 working days has been revived. New benefits such as the Viyana home ownership scheme were introduced in collaboration with NDB Housing Bank. The ETF website was launched in March 2002 and a Member Benefits Booklet was published in Sinhala and English to increase awareness. The Tamil version of this booklet will be published soon. The most significant development in the ETF reorganisation was the rationalisation of the branch network. The ETF has been maintaining an average collection of Rs. 300 million per month during this period. Restructuring also strengthened the enforcement function where increases in surcharges and collections exceeded by 100 per cent from previous levels. The Board also reviewed its links with employees by introducing a collection service through Citibank N.A. This process indirectly helped banking of cheques within the shortest possible lead time, improving the Board's cash balance. Weerakkody said ETF will offer educational loans at concessionary interest rates from this year for middle level executives and other professionals to pursue professional studies. |
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