Pension members aged 65 and above can now reserve Hajj places with retirement savings

Members of the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme (MRPS) aged 65 and above can now reserve a place for Hajj using their pension savings, the Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) said. An age restriction that had blocked them has been removed.

The change is set out in an amendment to the regulation that governs Hajj payments from the pension scheme. It was published in the Government Gazette on 5 November. It follows the Sixth Amendment to the Pension Act, which came into force in May.

Members who were held back or refused only because of their age can now apply again, according to the Pension Office.

Who is affected

The Pension Office said eligible members will no longer be stopped from reserving a Hajj place just because they have turned 65.

Two groups who were previously affected can reapply. The first is members who had already been given a Hajj year (the year they are scheduled to travel) after turning 65. The second is members whose reservation requests were cancelled solely because of their age.

Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Islam requires every Muslim who is physically and financially able to perform it at least once.

Eligibility conditions

According to the Pension Office, a member must meet two conditions to reserve a place:

• They must not have performed Hajj before.

• They must have at least MVR 336,000 in their Retirement Savings Account (RSA).

The RSA is each member's individual account. It holds their own and their employer's contributions, along with investment returns.

The MVR 336,000 threshold is not new. When the Hajj option was introduced in 2019, The Edition reported that it was the minimum balance needed to pay a monthly pension of MVR 2,000 at retirement age.

Some members have used part of their pension savings as collateral under the MRPS Housing Benefit. They remain eligible if their balance is still at least MVR 336,000 after the collateralised amount is deducted, the Pension Office said.

How payment works

Under the MRPS Hajj Benefit, a member reserves a place by paying 20 percent of the official Hajj price to the Maldives Hajj Corporation. The corporation is the state-owned company that organises Hajj travel for Maldivians.

The remaining 80 percent is set aside in the member's RSA. According to the Pension Office, this amount is not taken out of the account straight away. It stays invested until the payment is made to the Hajj Corporation.

Possible effect on monthly pensions

The change may reduce the monthly pension of some members, the Pension Office said.

For members already receiving MRPS payouts, the amount reserved for Hajj will be left out when their pension is calculated. The same applies to members who reserve a place and retire afterwards.

If a reservation is later cancelled, or the reserved money is returned to the RSA, the pension will be recalculated to include those funds, the office said.

The Pension Office did not say how large the reduction could be for a typical pensioner.

Background

Pension savings were first opened to Hajj in 2019 through the Fourth Amendment to the Pension Act (Law No. 8/2009). The scheme initially covered 50 percent of the Hajj price, PSM News reported. This was later raised to 80 percent.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu ratified the Sixth Amendment on 21 May 2026, according to the President's Office. Among other changes, it allows pension savings to be used to reserve Hajj places in advance.

The Pension Office said in June that the provision aims to help members perform Hajj while they are still physically and financially able to do so.

When the bill was before Parliament, PSM News reported that it allowed pension funds to be used for Hajj even after a member reached pension age. MRPS members can start drawing a monthly pension at 65.

The same amendment also allows pension savings to be used as collateral for housing loans, gives early access to members with a terminal illness, and tightens eligibility for the state-funded Old-Age Basic Pension.

The regulation

The changes are contained in Regulation No. 2026/R-92. It is the second amendment to Regulation No. 2019/R-1032, the Regulation on Disbursement of Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme Funds to Perform Obligatory Hajj. It was published in Volume 55, Issue 163 of the Government Gazette.

Members can check their RSA balance on the Pension Office website at pension.gov.mv and through the Pension Office mobile app.