DUSHANBE, November 14, 2013, Asia-Plus -- The electronic pension payment system will be fully introduced in Tajikistan only in 2015, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (MoLSP).

An official source at a MoLSP says the electronic pension payment system will allow providing transparency of payment of pensions and avoiding pension payment delays.

Since 2011, pensioners in 20 cities and districts of Tajikistan have received their pensions via plastic cards.

Before the end of this year, the electronic pension payment system is expected to be implemented in seven other districts and electronic system will cover nearly 50 percent of Tajik pensioners by the end of the year.

Amonatbonk (Tajikistan’s savings bank) says that as of June 30, 2013, a total number of pensioners in Tajikistan was 623,000 people.

Current minimum pension in Tajikistan amounts to 200.00 somoni.      

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) study evaluating the implementation of electronic payments to pensioners in Tajikistan notes that in 2009, Tajikistan became one of the first countries in Central Asia to implement electronic payments to pensioners.  As of October 2012, the electronic system had been implemented in 15 of 68 districts, covering 192,000 of Tajikistan’s approximately 596,000 pensioners, according to the report.  This study shows that this change has had positive effects, especially on perceived convenience and wait times.  However, not all pensioners have benefited equally from the change in payment system.  In particular, rural pensioners have had challenges and experienced increased wait and travel times.  The evaluation points to a number of areas where improvements can lead to enhanced service delivery for the pensioners and increased cost efficiency.