Luanda — Over 3,000 Angolan companies including large and small taxpayers have not paid their mandatory Social Security payments, the minister of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security, Teresa Dias said Wednesday in Luanda.

According to the minister, who was speaking at a seminar on "The coercive collection of social security debts", the lack of payment by these companies resulted in an overall debt of over 100 billion kwanza to the National Social Security Institute.

The minister explained that, besides the active companies, the debt includes some companies already deactivated, mainly during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have companies that have been extinguished and many of them did not contribute. But today, a debt legalisation process is underway with some of them", the minister explained.

According to the minister, the INSS has currently registered 2.5 million insured, 219,276 contributors and 196,302 pensioners.

According to the minister, taxi drivers, motorbike taxi drivers and street traders can be included in this category, who pay a contribution rate of 4 per cent on declared remuneration.

In 2019, the government granted to all taxpayers an exceptional regularisation period for social security debts, free of interest and fines constituting a sovereign opportunity for debtors to regularise their situations.

The seminar on the coercive collection of social security debt aimed to encourage companies to settle their accounts with the Institute.