Ministry Of Religion: Umrah Travel Organizers Have Not Certified Operational Permits Threatened To Be Frozen

PIXABAY ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) stated that Umrah Travel Organizers (PPIU) are required to carry out certification, if they are not certified, then operational permits are threatened with frozen.

"PPIUs that are not certified or do not re-certify until the validity period of the certificate ends, their operational permits will be frozen," said Director of Umrah and Special Hajj at the Ministry of Religion Nur Arifin as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, November 14.

The obligation of PPIU to carry out certification is stated in the Decree of the Minister of Religion (KMA) Number 1251 of 2021, which in the Fourth Dictum stipulates that PPIU must be certified no later than two years after the permit is issued or since KMA 1251 is issued on December 1, 2021.

Furthermore, he said, the certified PPIU follows the certification cycle once every five years. "So, after the first certification, PPIU must be certified once every five years," he said.

According to him, certification is carried out to assess the performance and quality of PPIU services. Since 2020 the PPIU certification has been carried out by the Special Umrah and Hajj Certification Institute (UHK).

Until now, he said, there were 681 PPIUs that had to certify for the first time until November 30, 2023.

Of that number, only 243 PPIUs have submitted certification processes. In addition, there are 71 PPIUs that are time for certification because they have entered the five-year cycle.

"We are still waiting for 438 (uncertified) until November 30, 2023," said Nur Arifin.

Meanwhile, the Head of Sub-Directorate for Licensing, Accreditation, and Development of the Ministry of Religion, Sutikno, said that if the permit is frozen, during the period of freezing the PPIU operational permit, it is not allowed to carry out business activities.

"PPIU which is in operational permit freezing status is given for six months to obtain a new certificate. The validity period of the new certificate refers to the date and month of operational permit. The status of operational permit freezing ends after PPIU gets a new certificate," said Sutikno.

He explained that the PPIU operational permit would be revoked if it did not get a new certificate within a maximum period of six months from the date the old certificate ends.

To avoid this, he continued, the Ministry of Religion will continue to remind PPIU to immediately carry out certification.

"We will continue to conduct socialization with PPIUs and coordinate with the Provincial Ministry of Religion Regional Office to remind PPIUs," he said.