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GCCI chides NIS over slow operations, calls for urgent reforms
Kaieteur News- The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has called out the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) over the “slow pace of conducting business” in a rapidly emerging economy.
The organisation, in a statement issued on Friday, expressed frustration with NIS’s operations and called for a review of the feasibility of the systems utilized by the Scheme.
The National Insurance Scheme’s (NIS) headquarters on Brickdam, Georgetown
Further, the Chamber called for the implementation of reforms to address the challenges faced by businesses and individuals in the day-to-day dealings with NIS.
The GCCI said its upbraiding of NIS follows several complaints about the entity’s processes. The organisation said that the primary complaint was NIS’s failure to transition to a digitised system to expedite processes.
“The Chamber continues to receive complaints from members of the business community, as well as individuals registered with NIS, over the slow pace of conducting business with the agency, inefficiency in services, as well as NIS’ failure to transition to a digitized system that would allow for timely and convenient transactions,” GCCI said.
Other complaints include issues with NIS’s unavailability by telephone, difficulties in registering companies, and the mishandling of documents.
“With countless complaints of the inability to contact the agency via the telephone numbers provided, the hassle involved in registering a company, and misplaced documents which result in applicants having to reapply, the entire procedure results in lost time for businesses,” the statement said.
The GCCI also emphasized that Guyana, being one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with increasing investment interest, should not be facing such delays due to bureaucratic inefficiencies at NIS.
“Coupled with the outcry of contributors over the slow pace of processing applications, poor record-keeping, and delayed disbursements,” GCCI said there “is an urgent need for a review of the feasibility of the systems being used by the agency, and the implementation of reforms to address the growing challenges with this organisation.”
“The advancement of the business landscape in Guyana cannot continue to be impeded by incompetence and complacency,” GCCI said.
(GCCI chides NIS over slow operations, calls for urgent reforms)
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