The National Pension Commission has introduced an automated system for calculating penalties imposed on employers who delay remitting workers’ pension contributions, in a move to strengthen compliance with the Pension Reform Act.

The commission said employers with outstanding penalties would be unable to obtain Pension Clearance Certificates until they settled their liabilities. The restriction could affect their eligibility for government contracts and other business transactions requiring proof of pension compliance.

The Director-General of the National Pension Commission, Omolola Oloworaran, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2026 annual PenCom Media Conference in Abuja.

“I would also note that the new system we just implemented for PCC, the system auto-calculates penalties. So, if you are requesting a pension plan certificate, and there are any delays in you remitting your pension until you pay your penalties, you will not be able to get your pension plan certificate,” she said.

Oloworaran said the initiative was aimed at ensuring employers met their pension obligations to workers under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

Although pension laws already prescribe penalties for delayed remittances, the new automated system connects the calculation and payment of outstanding penalties to the issuance of Pension Clearance Certificates.

Oloworaran acknowledged that some employers continued to withhold workers’ pension contributions or delay remittances despite regulatory efforts to enforce compliance.

“But we are monitoring and we are going after employers who are not contributing and also those who are not contributing in time as well,” she said.

Oloworaran also disclosed that PenCom had extended pension compliance requirements to business relationships between pension operators and their partners.

She cited First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and Zenith Bank as examples of major financial institutions with links to the pension industry that could help enforce the compliance measures.

Oloworaran added that pension fund operators were prohibited from investing in companies that failed to remit pension contributions for their employees.

She explained that the restrictions covered investment placements and other financial transactions involving employers that defaulted on their pension obligations.

The PenCom director-general also disclosed that the commission had engaged recovery agents to review employers’ records, establish outstanding pension liabilities and facilitate the recovery of unpaid contributions.