Makkah : Deputy Minister of Haj for Pilgrim Affairs Dr. Husain Al-Shareef said local pilgrim companies have received 35,000 applications for the low-cost Haj program within hours after they started accepting applications.
He said the registration procedures went very smoothly and no problems or obstacles were faced by any of the applicants. He pointed out Minister of Haj Bandar Hajjar has approved the increase of low-cost pilgrims from 19,000 last year to 41,000 pilgrims this year. “This represents a 116 percent increase and the ministry will allow 50 percent of the total number to register through our website,” he said.
The Ministry’s website started on Monday accepting applications from Saudis and expatriates who wanted to make use of the low-cost Haj scheme. Al-Sinani said 53 companies and establishments have been authorized to provide low-cost services to eligible pilgrims for SR2,500 to SR5,000. “About a third of the total domestic pilgrims are accounted for this low-cost service. The program, which is introduced by the ministry, will be a great relief for a good number of citizens and expatriates,” he said.
Other domestic Haj operating companies have been striving to scale down the cost of Haj, but can only slash prices to a certain extent since factors, such as rising air fare and road transport costs, food supply contracts and rising labor charges, are beyond their control. “The cost of renting out tents, furnishing tents and making additional modifications on them have also risen considerably,” Al-Sinan added. Such factors have made it difficult for the council to force companies to bring down their charges despite demands on companies not to hike prices unreasonably. “The council did not directly force or interfere in the pricing policies exercised in domestic pilgrim companies. It is, nevertheless, the council’s duty to advise them to keep their prices affordable,” said Al-Sinani, adding that he found that companies were cooperative and have slashed prices from last year’s higher tariffs.