‘Social Security Corporation may sue institutions for accumulated debts’

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) plans to file lawsuits against private and public institutions with unpaid subscriptions unless they coordinate with the corporation for a payment plan, an official said on Monday.

SSC Director General Nadia Rawabdeh said the corporation will take stricter measures in freezing movable and immovable assets of defaulting institutions with very old dues. 

At a meeting with reporters, Rawabdeh said the accumulated unpaid dues of institutions amounted to JD127 million since the corporation’s establishment in 1985, noting that the SSC has signed payment scheduling agreements for dues worth JD34 million.

She explained that around JD26 million of the total are fees that have not been paid for the past two months and that the SSC does not take any legal action before the completion of that two-month period.

“Six institutions owe the SSC a total of JD15 million with over JD1 million for each, in addition to 24 institutions owing the corporation a total of JD16 million with amounts between JD500,000 and JD1 million for each,” Rawabdeh told reporters.

She added that dues of private institutions reached JD107 million, making up 84 per cent of the total, while public agencies and municipalities owed the SSC JD20 million.  

“Zarqa Municipality alone owes the corporation the highest accumulated amount, which is JD8 million,” Rawabdeh said, adding that overall dues of municipalities stood at JD17 million. 

The value of private and public institutions’ dues does not exceed 2 per cent of the corporation’s assets, according to Rawabdeh, who explained that SSC subscribers who work for the defaulting institutions are not negatively affected by their employers’ indebtedness.

She noted that the corporation’s recent agreements with the Department of Lands and Survey, the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Directorate and the Industry and Trade Ministry aim to help the SSC collect these dues.

SSC Media Director Musa Sbeihi said the debt volume is “acceptable” when compared to similar regional and worldwide social security corporations.