The HCM City Post Office in collaboration with the HCM City SocialInsurance Agency will launch a pilot scheme to pay pensions and socialinsurance for pensioners in two districts, The Saigon Times Dailyreported.

The post office said pensioners in District 1 and BinhChanh district could come to the nearest post offices to get monthlypensions quickly and conveniently as staffers are arranged to workduring office hours.

HCM City is the last among the country’s 63provinces and cities where pensioners and social insurance beneficiariescan come to post offices to get payments. Currently there are more than8,000 post offices in 62 provinces and cities where pensions are paid.

TheHCM City Post Office and the Social Insurance Agency said in astatement that the city government has allowed them to pay monthlypensions and social insurance allowances in cash via the post networksin the two districts.

This scheme will be carried out from July 2015 to June 2016 in line with the list provided by social insurance entities.

The HCM City Post Office will arrange staff to offer home delivery service for medically unfit pensioners.

Thepayment period will be from the first to the tenth of each month andthe HCM City Post Office will arrange sufficient money so thatpensioners can get payments whenever they come to post offices. At themoment pensioners can hardly get their pensions right at the start ofmonth as monthly cash disbursements for local social insurance agenciestake a couple of days.

According to the HCM City Post Office andSocial Insurance Agency, Vietnam has some 2.9 million people receivingpensions and social insurance allowances totaling 100 trillion VND (4.6billion USD) a year.

In 2011, the Vietnam Social Insurance andthe Vietnam Post Corporation (VNPost) test-ran a project to pay socialinsurance at the post offices in Lam Dong, Bac Can, Dak Nong and Phu Yenprovinces. The project was expanded to Binh Thuan, Can Tho, Dak Lak,Long An, Nghe An, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Tuyen Quang provinces inApril 2012.-VNA