Payment Deadline for Haj Travel Expenses Extended Again

The government has again extended the payment deadline for Haj travel expenses for Indonesian pilgrims to ensure that all prospective pilgrims who are on the waiting list for this year can make the pilgrimage.

AFP

Worshippers pray around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand mosque in the holy Saudi city of Mecca, on the first day of the al-Adha feast celebrated by Muslims worldwide, on July 9, 2022.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Religious Affairs Ministry has again extended the payment deadline for Haj travel expenses for Indonesian pilgrims from 12 May to 19 May. The payment period has been extended to maximize the Haj quota, especially for prospective pilgrims on the waiting list.

Firman M Nur, the chairman of the Muslim Association of Indonesian Haj and Umrah Organizers (Amphuri), said that the extension of the payment deadline was needed in order to maximize the available Haj quota. The extension of the payment deadline was also needed to ensure that all prospective pilgrims who are on the waiting list for this year can make the pilgrimage.

“The payment stages for Haj travel costs have been arranged. However, if by the deadline for registration there is still a quota, it is the task of the Religious Affairs Ministry to provide options so that other prospective pilgrims can make use of the quota," he said on Tuesday (16/5/2023).

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According to Firman, maximizing the Haj quota is very important given that there are 5.2 million prospective Indonesian pilgrims who are still on the waiting list. The quota for Haj pilgrims set by the Saudi Arabian government for Indonesia every year only amounts to 220,000 people.

“So, if there are prospective pilgrims, who have been included in this year’s quota but are still unable to complete the payment, they must be replaced immediately by those in the next queue number that are ready because, based on the prevailing regulation, the departure is carried out sequentially based on the queue number.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

As many as 360 prospective pilgrims embarking on Banjarmasin in the first flight group during the release ceremony at the Banjarmasin Embarkation Hajj Dormitory Hall in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, Sunday (12/6/2022).

The new deadline for the payment of the Haj travel expenses was announced by the Haj Services at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Saiful Mujab, on Monday (15/5). Pilgrims whose names are included in this year’s Haj quota have been required to settle the payment for Haj travel expenses starting April 11. However, pilgrims who have not made payment are still given the opportunity to settle the payment until 19 May.

"The people who have been included in this year’s quota but have not had time to pay the travel costs, are expected to settle the payment soon. These include the prospective pilgrims whose departure was postponed in 2020 and 2022," he said.

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This year, Indonesia has received a quota of 221,000 pilgrims consisting of 203,320 regular pilgrims and 17,680 special pilgrims. Initially, the payment of the travel costs should have been made between April 11 and May 5 2023. However, up to the specified time limit, only 188,964 prospective pilgrims had paid the travel expenses.

The payment deadline was extended again until 12 May. By the closing deadline, the total number who had paid amounted to only 196,377 people. The Religious Affairs Ministry extended again the deadline until 19 May, because of the number of prospective pilgrims still unable to settle the payment.

Reserve pilgrims

Apart from that, with the deadline extension, the Religious Affairs Ministry gives an opportunity for regular pilgrims who fall into the reserve category to pay the travel costs. The Directorate General of Haj and Umrah Management has also changed the method of calculating the number of reserve pilgrims, which was initially set at 15 percent of the quota for each province, into a system based on proportion.

For provinces with a sizable remaining quota, the amount of reserves that are being given the opportunity to pay off amounts to 40 percent. Meanwhile for provinces with only a small remaining haj quota, the reserve will be only around 20 percent.

Meanwhile, Hery Gunardi, the president director of Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI), which handles Haj funds, said that the payment of the travel costs for this year’s pilgrims had reached more than 98 percent. BSI has given an assurance that the service disruptions that hit the bank a few days ago did not have a significant impact on the payment process.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.