2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 33 - Retirement of Government Personnel (§§ 761 — 830q) › § 830q - Payment plan for interest accrued on contributions owed

(a) A payment plan is hereby granted to the participants in active service, including those who were active and had withdrawn the contributions made to the Retirement System of Employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities, to pay for interest accrued on contributions owed corresponding to unaccounted, unpaid years of service or to return any withdrawn contributions, so that they may avail themselves of their retirement benefits, pursuant to §§ 761 et seq. of this title, provided, that they had joined the System for the first time on or before April 1, 1990, as of the date they withdrew their contributions. Every payment plan applied for to the Retirement System of Employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under this section shall be granted at a special simple interest rate as provided in subsection (c) of this section, if the applicant avails him/herself of the same within six (6) months following the date of effectiveness of this act.
(b) Participants who opt to avail themselves of the payment plan provided by subsection (a) of this section may have not more than ten (10) years left in service to be eligible for a pension for merit, for which purpose, they may credit any necessary unpaid years of service, without having to have twenty (20) years of service already credited in the System. Thus, this benefit shall not be limited solely to those participants who already have twenty (20) years of service paid for and credited in the Retirement System.
(c) The simple interest percentage applicable to the payment plan for interest accrued on unaccounted services shall be at the simple interest rate of six percent (6%) and of two and a half percent (2 1 / 2 %) annually for the return of contributions withdrawn to qualify for the retirement benefits, as provided in §§ 761 et seq. of this title, and said benefits shall be in effect from the date the participants avail themselves of the payment plan as of the date of liquidation of the debt. If they avail themselves of Act No. 305 of September 24, 1999, the interest to be paid shall be as provided by the Board of Trustees of the System.
(d) In order for a participant to avail him/herself of the payment plan for interest accrued on unaccounted services, or the return of withdrawn contributions, he or she shall pay the principal of the contributions owed in its totality within one (1) year from the date of approval of the payment plan by the Retirement System or from the date of notice of the cost for unaccounted services, whichever occurs later, while still in active service.
(e) Installments of the payment plan for interest accrued on unaccounted services or the return of withdrawn contributions shall be made from the date on which the participant begins to receive his/her pension and has paid off the principal. The payments shall be made by means of a discount from the payroll while in active service and shall continue to be made by means of a discount on the annuity while receiving the pension. The Retirement System shall have the power to make the corresponding discounts. It is hereby provided that this payment plan shall not be extended for more than sixty (60) months as of the date of approval of the payment plan or the date of notice of the cost for unaccounted services or the return of the withdrawn contributions, whichever occurs later.
(f) If the pensioner were to die during the term of the payment plan provided herein, the difference owed shall be charged to the death benefits, and if necessary, by means of monthly discounts from the pension benefits granted on account of the death of the pensioner, until the debt is satisfied.
(g) The Retirement System of the Employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall disclose this section, by publishing the same at least three (3) times in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico. The System shall also disclose this section through the Agency Coordinator of Retirement Affairs and by a Circular Letter to the agencies and the municipalities. The Office of Human Resources of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (ORHELA, Spanish acronym) is hereby directed to become part of the efforts to disclose the purposes of this section.
History —July 2, 2002, No. 97, §§ 1—7; Dec. 30, 2005, No. 168, § 1; Aug. 9, 2008, No. 216, §§ 1, 2.