SSF Nepal: what goes in, what it pays, and when you can take it out

The Social Security Fund runs the contribution-based social security scheme set up under the Contribution-based Social Security Act 2074. For an employee in the formal sector it is where your provident fund and gratuity now go: the Labour Act 2074 (sections 52 and 53) says the employer shall deposit them "in the Social Security Fund in the name of the concerned labour".

There are three ways in. An employee is registered by the employer — you cannot register yourself as one. A worker going abroad registers on their own, as part of foreign employment. A self-employed or informal worker registers on their own and pays their own contribution.

Joining does not take away a benefit you already had (Labour Act section 178(3)), and money saved in an older provident fund can be moved into SSF if you want it moved.

The contribution is 31% of your basic salary — pay without allowances. SSF's FAQ puts it in one line: "रोजगारदाताले २० प्रतिशत र योगदानकर्ताले ११ प्रतिशत गरी जम्मा ३१ प्रतिशत". The employer deposits it within 15 days after each month ends. Here is where it goes, on a basic salary of Rs 20,000:

These are the amounts in SSF's operating procedure as amended in 2079. The Fund revises its limits from time to time, so check the current figure on ssf.gov.np or with SSF before you claim.

• Medical, health and maternity. Starts after three continuous months of contributions. Hospital admission up to Rs 1 lakh a year for you and your spouse; treatment on a prescription without admission up to Rs 20,000 a year; critical illness up to Rs 10 lakh over your working life. You pay 20% of each claim yourself. For a birth, SSF pays one month's minimum basic salary per baby, and 60% of basic salary for maternity leave beyond the 60 days the employer pays, up to 98 days in all.
• Accident and disability. An accident at work is covered for the whole cost of treatment — tell SSF within seven days. Other accidents are covered up to Rs 7 lakh. Permanent total disability pays 60% of your last basic salary every month for life.
• Dependent family. If a contributor dies, the spouse receives 60% of the last basic salary every month for life, and up to two children, in turn, an allowance of 40% until 18 under the 2079 procedure (an earlier SSF FAQ said 21). SSF also pays Rs 25,000 towards the funeral.
• Old age. The retirement savings and the pension — the next section.

Not all of it, and not all at once. The 2.67% that buys insurance is spent on insurance and does not come back. The rest is in your own account, in two parts with different rules.

• Retirement savings — 8.33%. Paid to you as a lump sum when your job ends (to your heirs if you die). Your employer first marks you as having left on the employer portal, and your bank details must be in your KYC; then you claim it.
• Pension — 20%. Locked until 60. With at least 180 months of contributions you receive a pension every month for life: the pension savings and their returns, divided by 160. Reach 60 with fewer than 180 months and you choose between that monthly pension and a lump sum.
• If you started before the end of Asar 2078, the portal lets you move the pension money into your retirement savings and withdraw it all; choosing "All" closes the account. If you started later, you can withdraw only the gratuity part.
• A loan, not a withdrawal. After three continuous years you can borrow up to 80% of your retirement savings.
• Leaving Nepal for good. A foreign national takes the whole amount when the job ends, and so does a Nepali who gives up citizenship. SSF's 2021 FAQ also allowed it for a Nepali settling abroad with permanent residence there.

1. 1Ask your employer to register you. Only the employer can, on SSF's employer portal. Once SSF approves it, you receive your SSID (SSF number), username and password by email.
2. 2Log in to the contributor portal at sosys.ssf.gov.np, or in the SSF app (Google Play and App Store). The first login asks you to change the password; "Reset Password" sends a link to the email you registered.
3. 3Fill your KYC: personal details, address, documents and your nominee, then submit. SSF verifies it — without it, claims and withdrawals stop. KYC questions go to kyc@ssf.gov.np.
4. 4Read your contributions. The dashboard shows the months and the amount deposited; Reports → Contributor Statement shows how much went to each scheme and any claim paid. You can print your SSF identity card from the same place.

A worker in foreign employment registers themselves on the SSF portal (there is a separate path for EPS workers in Korea) and pays 21.33% of Nepal's minimum basic salary. At the minimum in force from 1 Shrawan 2080, Rs 10,820, that came to Rs 2,307.91 a month — the minimum is revised, so check the current amount when you register. You may pay more.

It covers three schemes, not four — there is no medical scheme. Accident treatment up to Rs 1 lakh a year; a disability pension of 60% of the minimum basic salary; for the family, a 40% pension for the spouse and a 40% allowance for children's education until 21, and Rs 25,000 for the funeral; these need nine of the last twelve months paid. The old-age part pays a pension from 60, and anything you deposited above the minimum can be taken out once you are back in Nepal.

The rest of the paperwork — the passport, the medical, the orientation and the labour permit — is in the foreign employment process and the labour permit guide.

A self-employed person chooses an amount between the minimum basic salary and three times it, and pays 31% of that. At Rs 10,820 that was Rs 3,354 to Rs 10,063 a month. An informal-sector worker pays 11% and the government adds 9.33%.

The rest of what an employer owes you — the Dashain bonus, gratuity and leave — is in Dashain bonus, gratuity and SSF, and the legal floor for pay in minimum salary in Nepal.

• Hospitals SSF works with: the list on ssf.gov.np under "Affiliated hospitals" (आबद्ध अस्पतालहरु), filtered by province and district.
• Head office: Thapathali, Kathmandu. Older pages still say Babarmahal. Branch offices in Biratnagar and Simara; contact offices in Butwal, Nepalgunj, Pokhara and Janakpurdham.
• Toll-free 1116; call centre 01-5970016; office 01-5356144; email info@ssf.gov.np.
• Workers abroad: WhatsApp and Viber 9851351754, migrantworker@ssf.gov.np.