Ministry Of Religion: Hajj Fee Repayment Extended Until May 19

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

The Ministry of Religion has again extended the deadline for paying for the pilgrimage (Bipih) until May 19, 2023, considering that there are still many prospective hajj pilgrims who have not paid their Hajj fees.

"We will extend the payment stage for Hajj fees from today (Monday) to May 19, 2023," said Ministry of Religion's Director of Domestic Hajj Services Saiful Mujab as reported by ANTARA, Monday, May 15.

This year, Indonesia received 221,000 hajj quotas, consisting of 203,320 regular hajjes and 17,680 special hajjes. Its Bipih repayment took place from April 11 to May 5, 2023.

Saiful said that at that time there were 188,964 people who had paid the hajj fees or there were still around 14 thousand who had not paid. The Ministry of Religion then extended the repayment period until May 12, 2023.

As of May 12, there were 196,377 prospective pilgrims who had paid off. This means that there is still a quota of six thousand who have not made repayments so that the Ministry of Religion has extended them again.

According to Saiful, those whose names are listed on the congregation's list have the right to pay off, but have not made payment or confirmation of payment, are still given the opportunity.

"The pilgrims who entered the quota this year but have not had time to pay off, we hope that this extension can be paid off immediately. Including for the congregation who have paid off the postponement in 2020 and 2022 who were given the opportunity this year to only confirm the payment, they are still given the opportunity," he said.

In addition, he said, at this extension stage, the Ministry of Religion also continues to provide opportunities for regular pilgrims who are included in the reserve category to pay off Bipih.

The Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah has even increased the number of reserve hajj candidates from initially being applied evenly by 15 percent from the quota of each province to proportional.

The province with a remaining quota is still quite large, the number of reserves that are given the opportunity to pay off reaches 40 percent. Meanwhile, if the remaining quota is low, the number of reserves will be increased to 20 percent.

"We calculate each province's reserve quota at this extension stage proportionally, with a percentage of 20 percent to 40 percent," said Saiful.

According to him, pilgrims who pay off their Hajj fees with a reserve status will depart if until the closing of all stages of payment there is still a quota remaining in each province.

However, if they can't leave this year it will be a priority for departure next year. The reserve pilgrims who have the right to pay are those who are in the next portion number based on SISCOHAT data.

"Only those who meet the criteria are entitled and the payment process will be accepted," he said.