Price control to end exploitation of pilgrims

(MENAFN- Arab News) The Ministry of Haj plans to fix the prices of Haj services offered by companies in an attempt to prevent the exploitation of pilgrims by unscrupulous operators.

Hussein Al-Sharif undersecretary for Haj Affairs at the ministry said a specialized department is working on the plan which would include setting the prices for food accommodation and transport.

Al-Sharif said that after the price controls are introduced companies would be graded into three categories based on the quality of services offered. "The move aims to end the exploitation of pilgrims by Haj service providers." This would see "a drastic fall" in complaints of overcharging he said.

The fixed rates would eliminate discrepancies in prices charged by companies offering the same level of services he said. The price controls and grading would also apply to domestic Haj companies.

The ministry has already launched two programs to provide services cheaply the Low-Cost Haj and Easy Haj.

A Low-Cost Haj package is SR2500 per pilgrim while the Easy Haj program begins from SR3000. Of the 178000 domestic pilgrims 46000 will benefit from the two programs.

There have been more than 14000 approvals for the Low Cost Haj package from registrations made on the ministry's website. Fifty companies are providing this category of services this year. He said 600000 domestic pilgrims registered online in the first two days of its launch this year.

The ministry plans to launch more programs to help domestic pilgrims said Al-Sharif.