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02.04.2024

News related to OMF membership

Izmjene i dopune Zakona o obveznim mirovinskim fondovima („Narodne novine“ broj: 156/23) donijele su promjene vezane uz ograničenje članstva u pojedinim kategorijama obveznih mirovinskih fondova (u daljnjem tekstu: OMF).

Notice on membership in a compulsory pension fund

Amendments to the Act on Compulsory Pension Funds (“Official Gazette”, no. 156/23) brought changes related to the restriction of membership in certain categories of compulsory pension funds (hereinafter: OMF).

In order to encourage a more active participation of OMF members in making decisions that may ultimately affect their pension rights and future pension, we provide the most important information related to the possibility of:

  • remaining in category A
  • returning from category B to category A
  • returning from category C to category B

First registration at OMF

All persons under the age of 40 who, for the first time after 01 January 2002, acquire the status of an insured person in pension insurance (either on the basis of employment, self-employment, other income, compensation), must choose their compulsory pension company and OMF category within one month from on the date of acquiring the status of an insured person. The insured person can choose category A, B or C OMF if they have more than 10 years until their right to old-age pension is exercised, while the insured person who has less than 10 years until their right to old-age pension is exercised does not have the option of choosing category A, but only category B or C OMF. If the insured person does not select their OMF within the prescribed period of one month, REGOS will assign them ex officio to one of the existing category A or B OMFs, depending on the membership restriction criteria.

The possibility of remaining in category A OMF

A member of a category A OMF is allowed to remain longer in category A by submitting a request to remain in category A.

This possibility applies to an OMF member who has more than 10 years and two months left until they can exercise the right to an old-age pension.

Act on Compulsory Pension Funds (hereinafter: the Act) allows an OMF member who, as of 1 April 2024, has less than 8 months until the automatic assignment to a category B OMF to submit a request to remain in category A until the day preceding the official assignment, including that day.

By submitting a request to remain in category A, the OMF member remains in a category A OMF for up to five years until the right to an old-age pension is exercised. After that, REGOS will assign them ex officio to a category B OMF. If a member of a category A OMF does not take advantage of the opportunity to submit a request to remain in category A and REGOS assigns them to category B, they can subsequently return to category A on their own, if there are five or more years left until their right to pension is exercised.

Change of OMF

An OMF member can change the OMF category once in a calendar year within the same pension company or by switching to OMF managed by another pension company. The OMF category and the compulsory pension company can be changed at the same time.

No exit fee shall be charged when changing the OMF category within the same compulsory pension company. When changing the OMF category, the exit fee shall be charged only if the pension company is changed at the same time. The fee for leaving OMF, if the pension company is changed at the same time, is calculated in the maximum amount of 0.8% in the first year, 0.4% in the second year and 0.2% in the third year of membership. After three years of consecutive membership in OMF, the fee for leaving OMF shall be charged.

An OMF member can switch to an OMF managed by another pension company if 15 days have passed since the previous change of OMF, regardless of whether the previous change was the result of switching to a pension fund which belongs to a different category but is managed by the same pension company, or switching to an OMF which is managed by another pension company.

An OMF member who changed the OMF category in the period from 1 January 2024 to 1 April 2024 cannot change the OMF category again in 2024 because the Act stipulates that the OMF category can only be changed once a year.

The possibility of changing the OMF category is shown in the following table:

Current membershipThe possibility of changing the category to:Deadline for category change
Category A membercategory BNo restrictions
category CNo restrictions
Category B membercategory A5 years or more until retirement
category CNo restrictions
Category C membercategory A10 more or years until retirement
category B6 months or more until retirement on 1 April 2024

With the entry of the Act into force, the official allocation of OMF members into category C has been abolished. OMF members who had already been transferred to category C OMF before the Act entered into force were given the opportunity to return to category B, but only if they have more than six months left until retirement.

An insured person who is a category C OMF member and who has less than six months left until they become entitled to a pension cannot change the category of the pension fund.

Selecting/changing the compulsory pension company and OMF category and submitting a request to remain in category A

Selection of OMD and of OMF category and submission of a request to remain in category A can be done at one of the four Pension Information Centers in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka and Osijek and at any FINA branch office at the counter where REGOS operations are carried out.

Selection/change of compulsory pension company and OMF category can also be done by using the REGOS electronic service "Compulsory pension fund (registration/change)" in the e-Citizens system with the use of an electronic ID card (e-OI) with an activated signature certificate.

In order to provide OMF members with timely information about their rights, the possibility of remaining in category A, returning to category A or category B, and the method and deadlines for exercising these options, REGOS will deliver a Notice with all relevant information to OMF members by electronic means. Therefore, we ask OMF members to check the delivered notifications in “My inbox” through the REGOS electronic service, so that they can timely exercise the options related to the restriction of membership in a particular OMF category.