BPKH Urges Affordable, Fair, and Sustainable 2027 Hajj Cost Formula
The Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) supports the government’s efforts to keep hajj costs affordable for pilgrims. However, the formula for the 2027 Hajj Pilgrimage Cost (BPIH) for 1448 H/2027 M needs to be calculated carefully so that affordability for departing pilgrims remains balanced with fairness for pilgrims on the waiting list and the sustainability of hajj funds.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has proposed a 2027 BPIH of Rp 107,340,172 per pilgrim, with 40 percent, or approximately Rp 42.94 million, paid directly by pilgrims through Bipih and 60 percent, or approximately Rp 64.40 million, sourced from the investment returns of hajj fund management.
Indra Gunawan, a member of the BPKH Executive Board, said that efforts to ease the burden on departing pilgrims are a goal that should be supported. However, the financing formula must also take into account the interests of approximately 5.7 million prospective pilgrims who remain on the waiting list.
“BPKH supports the endeavour to keep the costs paid by pilgrims affordable. However, today’s affordability must remain fair for pilgrims who are still waiting and must not disrupt the sustainability of hajj funds for the years ahead,” Indra said.
The proposal would see the portion of investment returns increase quite significantly compared to the 2026 hajj operation. In the 2026 BPIH, the portion paid by pilgrims was around 62 percent, or Rp 54.19 million, while investment returns accounted for around 38 percent, or Rp 33.22 million per pilgrim. Under the 2027 BPIH scenario, the portion of investment returns would rise to 60 percent, or approximately Rp 64.40 million per pilgrim.
Assuming a quota of 203,320 pilgrims, the investment returns required for this scenario would reach approximately Rp 12.98 trillion. Meanwhile, based on BPKH projections, total investment returns for 2027 are estimated at around Rp 12.375 trillion. After accounting for allocations to the Ummah Endowment Fund, operational needs, and the distribution of investment returns through pilgrims’ virtual accounts, the projected investment returns available to finance the BPIH amount to approximately Rp 6.115 trillion.
As a result, the scenario of a 40 percent Bipih and 60 percent investment returns composition could potentially create a shortfall of approximately Rp 6.87 trillion.
“This figure needs to be part of the joint discussion. This is not about whether BPKH is willing or unwilling to finance it, but about ensuring that the chosen formula matches the sustainable capacity of investment returns,” Indra said.
According to Indra, the BPIH discussion therefore cannot only look at how much pilgrims directly pay in a single departure year. What also needs to be calculated is the source of financing for the shortfall and its impact on the rights of pilgrims who are still waiting.
“Hajj funds are a trust from the pilgrims. Therefore, every use of investment returns must maintain a balance between the interests of pilgrims departing now and those still waiting,” he said.
BPKH is of the view that efforts to maintain BPIH affordability must also be pursued by continually seeking efficiency in the real costs of hajj operations, not merely by enlarging the portion of investment returns. In this way, the 2027 BPIH discussion can be directed at two things simultaneously: finding increasingly efficient operational costs and determining a healthy and fair composition of Bipih and investment returns.
“What we need to find together is the point of balance. Costs that are rational for departing pilgrims, the rights of waiting pilgrims remain protected, and hajj funds remain healthy for the next generation,” Indra said.
BPKH is ready to provide various simulations and projections to the government and the House of Representatives’ BPIH Working Committee as material for obtaining the most realistic and sustainable 2027 BPIH financing formula.
In carrying out its mandate, BPKH is also obliged to ensure that hajj financial management complies with Law Number 34 of 2014 on Hajj Financial Management, which mandates the principles of sharia, prudence, benefit, non-profit, transparency, and accountability.
BPKH also takes into account the views and fatwas of scholars regarding fairness in the distribution of hajj fund investment returns. The decision of the Ijtima Ulama of the Indonesian Fatwa Commission, including Decision Number 09/Ijtima Ulama/VIII/2024, serves as one of the references in ensuring that investment returns from pilgrims’ funds are used fairly and in accordance with sharia principles.
In the view of the Indonesian Ulema Council, hajj financing must also continue to observe the principle of istitha’ah, or capability, which forms the basis of the obligation to perform the hajj.
Therefore, according to Indra, the aspects of sharia, intergenerational fairness among pilgrims, and financial sustainability need to be placed as a single unit in the BPIH discussion.
“The goal is the same: so that hajj operations remain affordable and of high quality, while the trust of millions of pilgrims who have saved and waited for years also remains protected,” Indra concluded.