Pension fund opens for pilgrimage to Mecca

Pension Administration Office on Tuesday invited licensed Hajj tour operators to register if they wish to offer the option to collatorize funds in the retirement pension account to fund Hajj pilgrimage this year. 

According to a notification, licensed companies to offer Hajj service this year can apply to register under the regulations for release of funds from the retirement pension account for the pilgrimage.

Pension Office said that under the regulations, only those who have entered into an agreement with the office and are allowed to cater to Hajj pilgrims will be able to avail the services.

Companies will have to submit their applications by 2pm on Sunday if they want to enter into an agreement with the office.

This year, three companies in addition to the state-owned Hajj Corporation have been allowed to take pilgrims from the Maldives. They are:

Each of these companies was allotted 90 quotas. The Maldives has received a total quota of 1,000 pilgrims.

It is a presidential pledge to make pension funds available for Hajj pilgrimage. To this end, the Pension Act was amended to fund Hajj with pension funds.

As per the rules, pension money will be released for the first pilgrimage only. The funds will be released from the retirement account only if there is at least MVR 336,000 in the account.