The government is withdrawing from the key PiS reform. It will affect many retirees

The government announced the abandonment of the introduction of the Central Pension Information (CIE), a system aimed at collecting data on Poles’ retirement savings in one place. The reform, proposed by the previous administration, was intended to simplify access to information on contributions collected in ZUS, OFE, IKE, IKZE and Employee Capital Plans. The decision to withdraw from the project was justified by high costs, concerns about data security and the risk of digital exclusion.

What was the Central Pension Information supposed to be?

CIE was designed as a central registry enabling people to see all their retirement savings in one place. The system was intended to facilitate financial planning for the future by eliminating the need to use different platforms and remember multiple logins.

The reform was also intended to provide an incentive to save additionally for retirement, offering a complete financial picture. The government hoped that the availability of such data would result in greater interest in pension products.

Why will the project not be implemented?

The Ministry of Digitization presented several reasons why it was decided to abandon the implementation of CIE. Financial issues were a key factor – the implementation of the system was to cost the state budget approximately PLN 167.5 million.

The justification for the bill also highlighted concerns about data security. Providing information about citizens’ pension products raised the risk of privacy breaches and unauthorized access.

Additionally, the problem of digital exclusion was pointed out. Not all citizens are proficient in using ICT systems, which could make access to information collected in CIE more difficult.

Alternatives to CIE

Currently, Poles can check the status of their pension accounts via the systems of ZUS, OFE and other financial institutions. However, this information is scattered and requires the use of many different platforms. The lack of one coherent system means the need to remember several logins and passwords, which is a big challenge for many users.

The decision to abandon the Central Pension Information Service ends one of the most important reforms in the social security system. Although its introduction was intended to improve the transparency and efficiency of pension savings management, high costs and concerns about data security turned out to be an insurmountable obstacle.

Abandoning the project means that Poles will still have to use various sources to obtain full information about their savings for the future.