Pension Office amends Hajj fund release rules with new 20 percent deposit

The Maldives Pension Administration Office has tightened the rules for releasing retirement savings to pay for obligatory Hajj, making a 20 percent cash payment to the government Hajj services company the trigger for the remaining 80 percent to be drawn from a member’s retirement savings account. The change is set out in Regulation No. 2026/R-92, the second amendment to Regulation No. 2019/R-1032, published in the Government of Maldives Gazette, Volume 55, Number 163, on 5 November 2026, corresponding to 25 Jumada al-Ula 1448. It took effect on the date of publication in the Gazette.

The regulation is issued by the Maldives Pension Administration Office in Malé under the Pension Act, citing sections 32(h) and 32-1(r) of that law and the powers conferred by sections 3(n) and 6(f). It rewrites the core operating provisions of the 2019 text — articles 6, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15 and 16 — and inserts several new articles, including a fresh article 6-1 confirming that members who have already reached pension age may still release pension savings for obligatory Hajj.

The rules bind two groups: members of the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme who hold savings in a retirement savings account, and the Hajj operators that carry pilgrims from the Maldives, which must now sign a written agreement with the Pension Office before any money moves.

Twenty percent up front, eighty from savings

Under the new article 7-1, a member who meets the eligibility conditions set in article 30 of the Pension Act may reserve a Hajj place through the government company and then ask the Pension Office to settle the balance. The mechanics are fixed as follows:

• 20 percent of the Hajj price must be paid directly to the government Hajj services company.
• The remaining 80 percent is requested from the retirement savings account, using the Pension Office form or an electronic channel.
• The company must confirm to the Pension Office that the 20 percent has been paid.
• The company must report which members reserved places and for which year.
• The company and the Pension Office must sign an agreement covering reservations and the release of funds.

Members who arrange Hajj outside the government company are covered by article 7-2, under which the operator must supply the Pension Office with the member’s details and the year the place was reserved. Article 7-3 sets the holding mechanism: the Pension Office keeps up to 80 percent of the official Hajj price, or the amount the member requested, in the account until the company asks for the transfer or the reservation is scrapped.

Deadlines of seven, fifteen and thirty days

The amendment fixes a chain of short deadlines for the three institutions involved, and article 15-1 states that official public holidays are excluded when those periods are counted.

• Applications may be filed through the government company’s electronic channel no more than eight months before the Hajj day of that Hijri year.
• Within seven days of an application, the Pension Office must tell the company whether the member qualifies.
• Within fifteen days, the qualifying member’s money must be transferred to the Hajj services provider.
• The company must report any change in the official Hajj price within seven days.
• If the member does not travel, all released funds must be refunded to the Pension Office within thirty days of Hajj day, and placed back in the savings account within a further fifteen days.
• A list of members is exchanged with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, with a fourteen-day window for information to come back.

Where a refund runs late, both sides must build a safeguard into their agreement so the member does not lose investment returns while the money is outstanding.

Collateral, price swings and changed years

Article 7-5 addresses a shift in the government’s official Hajj price: if the price falls below the level set at reservation, the Pension Office releases the surplus it was holding; if it rises, the member either covers the difference or cancels, at the company’s discretion and on the operator’s terms. A reservation year may not be changed, transferred or cancelled except with the member’s consent, though a cut in the Maldives’ Hajj quota or a change of government policy gives the company latitude, provided it informs the Pension Office and the member without delay. The new article 16(n) defines “collateralisation” as money pledged in a retirement savings account against a loan to buy, build or repair a home — and money held for Hajj may not be used that way. The hold also ends if the member dies, and a pension can only be paid out after the amount held is deducted.

The practical effect falls on every scheme member planning the pilgrimage and on the licensed operators, who can no longer receive pension money without a signed agreement with the Pension Office. For savers, the 20 percent deposit is now the gate: no payment to the government company, no release of the other 80 percent.

Source: Government of Maldives Gazette, Volume 55, Number 163, 5 November 2026 (official reference: Regulation No. 2026/R-92).