A social insurance program that provides protection for self-employed Omanis and the like against the risks of the elderly, disability and death.
Insurance for self-employed Omanis and the like
Categories covered:
The program obligatorily covers the following categories:
- Business owners
Lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, auditors and other professionals.
- All those who are required to be registered by the Commercial Registry Law, including those involved in trade, industry, economic or financial activity, and others who perform work or services on their own.
- Partners in all commercial companies except public joint stock companies.
- Anyone who is self-employed in craft professions such as fishing, agriculture, and driving public service vehicles.
- Those practicing activities that require obtaining a license or permit from the competent authorities.
Registration mechanism:
- Self-employed Omanis and the like are automatically registered with the Fund through bilateral linkage with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion once licenses are granted to practice a specific activity or profession etc.
- The employer who has obtained a license to practice a specific activity or profession other than the licenses issued by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion is obligated to register directly through the Fund’s electronic portal (www.spf.gov.om)
End of registration:
The insured’s registration ends automatically according to the following:
- The insured person from the category of self-employed Omanis and the like stop practicing the activity or profession, in accordance with what is registered with the competent authority.
In cases other what is stipulated above, the insured’s registration is considered terminated even if service termination procedures are not taken, in the following cases:
- Proof of the death of the insured from the civil registry
- Proof of the loss of the insured based on the decision of the competent authority
- A final ruling is issued declaring the institution or company bankrupt
- Publishing the announcement of the completion of the liquidation of the institution or company in the Official Gazette
- Proof of imprisonment of the insured for a period exceeding one year
- Proof of the insured’s professional and non-occupational disability
- Loss, revocation or withdrawal of the Omani nationality of the insured.
Contributions:
- The insured is responsible for paying contributions to the fund
- Payment of the due contributions shall be through direct transfer to the Fund’s accounts in approved banks or through any other means determined by the Fund
- Payment of contributions due from the insured shall be based on the following rules:
- The insured pays the contributions appropriate to his income level on a monthly basis, and may pay the contributions appropriate to his income level in advance for every (3) three months or (6) six months or a year.
- The minimum contributions to be paid by the insured for each month shall be (5,500) five Omani riyals and five hundred baisas, starting from 01/01/2024, taking into account the previously registered cases and the income bracket registered according to the previous system, and he may also choose the contribution amount. He can increase or decrease it according to the contribution appropriate to his income level
- Every month, the Fund issues a notification of payment of contributions to the insured, including the total unpaid contributions, calculated according to the minimum contributions.
- According to the contribution wage and service periods for the purpose of calculating the pension for the self-employed insured, those working abroad and the like, the categories covered by insurance on an optional basis, and the categories for which a specific monthly contribution wage is not available or whose monthly wage for which contributions are paid is less than the prescribed minimum wage, as follows:
- If the total annual contributions paid are less than the annual contributions equivalent to contributions paid for the minimum wage or the average annual registered wage – if any -, the service periods will be reduced in proportion to the total percentages of contributions paid for the Old Age, Disability and Death Insurance Branch.
- If the total annual contributions paid are higher than the annual contributions equivalent to contributions paid below the minimum wage or the average registered annual wage – if any – then the full period is calculated, and the wage is calculated by dividing the total annual contributions paid by the total contribution percentages for the branches covered by its provisions.
- Anyone who is self-employed in craft professions such as fishing, agriculture, and driving public service vehicles
- Those practicing activities that require obtaining a license or permit from the competent authorities.
Restoration of service periods:
- The self-employed insured and the like may add periods of actual service subsequent to the effective date of the provisions of the Social Insurance System for Self-Employed Omanis and the like issued by Royal Decree No. 44/2013, provided that the insured has a commercial register, license or practice, a valid job or profession during that period, and he must be committed to paying his total share and the employer’s share for the old-age, disability and death insurance branch, as follows:
- If the insured is someone who has previously registered according to the previous retirement system, the wage that is taken into account when calculating contributions for the purpose of restoring service periods is the contribution wage of the insured registered according to the previous retirement system.
If the insured has not previously registered according to the previous retirement system, the wage that is taken into account when calculating contributions for the purpose of restoring service periods is the contribution wage that the insured chooses from among the schedule of monthly incomes attached to the social insurance system for self-employed Omanis and the like.
Benefits of insuring self-employed Omanis and the like
- Elderly pension for those who have reached the age of the elderly and completed the service periods stipulated in the law
- Disability pension or death due to non-occupational causes before reaching the age of the elderly, provided that:
- The contribution period is at least six (6) consecutive months before disability or death occurs
- The contribution period is (12) intermittent months, including at least (3) continuous months.
General disciplines and requirements
- The competent authorities may not renew permits or licenses granted to practice businesses or professions for self-employed workers and the like, unless proof of payment of contributions and amounts due to the Fund is submitted in accordance with Article (50) of the provisions of the Social Protection Law.
- The ceiling for the contribution wage for the old age, disability and death insurance branch shall not exceed (3000) three thousand Omani riyals per month in accordance with Article (52) of the provisions of the Social Protection Law.
- The Omani self-employed worker pays the appropriate contribution for his income level, and the paid contribution is calculated as a subscription wage by dividing the amount by the total contribution shares stipulated in Article (70) of the Social Protection Law in accordance with Article (71) of the provisions of the Social Protection Law.