The RCAR (Régime collectif d’allocation de retraite) is Morocco’s mandatory pension scheme for contractual staff of central government, local authorities, public establishments and certain public enterprises. Created by dahir 1-77-216 of 4 October 1977 and operational from 1978, it is run by the Caisse nationale de retraites et d’assurances (CNRA), managed by the Caisse de dépôt et de gestion (CDG). Contributions are 18% of fixed pay, 12% from the employer and 6% from the employee, and the pension is 2% of career-average pay for each year of service.
Who is covered
- Contractual staff of public administrations and local authorities;
- Employees of public establishments not covered by CMR;
- Employees of certain public enterprises that have signed up;
- Dependants (surviving spouses, orphans).
Schemes
- A general regime, mandatory;
- A complementary regime, optional, on a funded basis, above defined pay thresholds.
Benefits
- Retirement (old-age) pensions;
- Invalidity pensions;
- Survivor and orphan pensions;
- Lump-sum death benefits in some cases.
Contributions, ceiling and pension
The general regime is a defined-benefit scheme, two-thirds funded and one-third pay-as-you-go. Its rules, as summarised by ACAPS, the pensions supervisor:
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Contribution rate | 18% of fixed pay (excluding expense allowances and family allowances) |
| Employer share | 12% (two-thirds) |
| Employee share | 6% (one-third) |
| Contribution ceiling | 4 times the scheme’s average salary: MAD 257,328 a year (MAD 21,444 a month) in 2025 |
| Retirement age | 60 (desk jobs), 55 (arduous or dangerous jobs) |
| Pension | 2% of revalued career-average pay per year of service |
| Early retirement | 0.4% reduction per month early, up to 5 years (24%) |
| Deferred retirement | 0.4% increase per month, up to 24% |
| Survivors | 50% to the spouse or spouses, 50% to orphans |
| Indexation | Yearly, in line with the scheme’s average salary |
The reference salary is the average of the whole career, revalued at retirement, not of the last few years. Pay above the ceiling earns no rights in the general regime; it falls under the optional complementary regime.
Worked example
A member retires at 60 after 30 years of service, with revalued career-average pay of MAD 10,000 a month. The pension is 30 × 2% = 60% of that, MAD 6,000 a month. At that salary the member paid MAD 600 a month (6%) and the employer MAD 1,200 (12%). Retiring three years early, at 57, would cut the pension by 36 × 0.4% = 14.4%.
Online services
The rcar.ma portal provides career statements, pension simulations, file tracking and certificates.
Where RCAR fits
RCAR sits alongside CNSS (private sector), CMR (civil service), CIMR (private complementary) and a few employer-internal schemes. Structural pension-system reform directly affects RCAR.
Sources
- Official site: rcar.ma
- Administrator: cdg.ma
- ACAPS, RCAR fact sheet (French): rates, ceiling, ages, pension formula, read 13 October 2026
- Morocco open-data portal, RCAR salary ceiling series: MAD 257,328 in 2025
- French Wikipedia article: RCAR