31Certain benefit must be not less than certain amount

31 Certain benefit must be not less than certain amount

31 Certain benefit must be not less than certain amount

(1) This section applies to and in respect of—

(a) a contributor who is retired from the service of his employer through infirmity of body or mind, where the Board is satisfied that the infirmity—

(i) incapacitates the contributor from performing his duties, and

(ii) is likely to be permanent, and

(b) a contributor who dies if, in consequence of his death, a lump sum benefit becomes payable under section 28 (1).

(2) For the purposes of this section, minimum benefit in relation to a contributor to or in respect of whom this section applies means the lesser of—

(a) the amount ascertained in accordance with the formula—

where—

a represents the annual wages of the contributor immediately before his retirement or death, as the case may be.

n represents the number of months of service completed by him at that time,

and

(b) the amount that—

(i) where the contributor is retired or dies before he attains the age of sixty years—would have been payable to him under this Act had he retired on attaining the age of sixty years at the end of a period of not less than five years’ continuous service as a contributor after having continued until that retirement to pay to the Fund contributions at the same rate as the rate at which he was paying them immediately before he was retired or died, as the case may be, or

(ii) where the contributor is retired or dies on or after attaining the age of sixty years—would have been paid to him under this Act if, on the day on which he is retired or dies, he had retired at the end of a period of not less than five years’ continuous service as a contributor.

(3) Where the benefit payable to or in respect of a contributor to or in respect of whom this section applies would, but for this subsection, be less than the minimum benefit for the contributor, the amount of the benefit payable to or in respect of the contributor shall, subject to subsection (4), be the amount of that minimum benefit.