Ministry Of Religion Hopes BSI Disorders Don't Lose Congregants Of Hajj Candidates To Pay BIPIH

The Inspectorate General (Itjen) of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) hopes that the disturbances that occur at Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) will not harm prospective pilgrims who want to pay off the Hajj Travel Fee (BIPIH).

"I will propose to my friends to take steps out. In principle, so that the pilgrims are not harmed," said Inspector General of the Ministry of Religion Faisal as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 11.

BSI as one of the banks that has collected the payment of Hajj costs has been disrupted since Monday (8/5). The majority of prospective hajj candidates pay their Hajj fees through BSI.

On the other hand, the deadline for payment of Hajj costs will end on May 12, 2023 after previously receiving an extension on May 5, 2023.

Based on data from the Ministry of Religion as of Wednesday (10/5), there were 161,479 prospective pilgrims who registered via BSI. A total of 142,447 (88.21 percent) have paid off, and 19,032 (11.79 percent) have not paid the Hajj fee.

Faisal said that his party received information that a number of prospective hajj candidates had not been able to pay off payment deposits due to problems that occurred at BSI.

The Ministry of Religion's Inspector General, he said, immediately responded by asking the Regional Office (Kanwil) of the Ministry of Religion to actively pick up the ball, ensuring that prospective pilgrims who are leaving but are constrained by the system error.

"Picking up the ball ensures that real pilgrims want to leave but are constrained by not being able to pay off because the BSI system is hampered. Of course we will find a way out," said Faisal.

If until the deadline for payment there are still prospective hajj candidates who have not been able to pay off their deposits due to problems in the BSI network, Itjen will propose to the ranks of the Ministry of Religion's Director General of Hajj and Umrah (PHU) to find a way out.

"In principle, so that the pilgrims are not harmed," he said.

However, he hopes that the payment of the hajj costs can still be done and until the specified time limit, many prospective pilgrims have paid off.

"We hope that later it will be like this, can we use the data manually or not? We don't know yet. Because, right now the BSI has started the repair process, so because the payment will end tomorrow, who knows on the 12th (May) it will be paid off a lot, so there is no need for an extension," he said.