Haj pilgrims have been told that they can cancel their applications and collect a complete refund.
The circular issued by Haj Committee of India (HCOI) on Friday comes even as it awaits a notification from Saudi Ministry of Haj and the central government about provisions for Haj pilgrims this year. The HCOI said it is very difficult to make arrangements because of the epidemic and are advising people to not go for Haj which starts on June 25.
Earlier, the Saudi government had suspended the Umrah - a shorter version of the Haj - which sees approximately 25 lakh people visiting the holy city of Mecca and Madina, of which around five lakh pilgrims visit from India.
This year, around 1.75 lakh people were expected to leave for Haj from India from June 25 onwards. Of which, 1.25 lakh people had registered through HCOI and other 50,000 would have travelling through private tour operators (PTOs).
Maqsood Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of HCOI, said that owing to a lot of queries by pilgrims, they decided to issue the circular calling for cancellation of applications by pilgrims. Khan added that the committee is of the opinion that it will be difficult to make all the arrangements for Haj at such a short notice.
“There was some cancellation charge of around ₹5,000-7,000 that was levied in previous years if pilgrims cancel, but we are doing away with that this year. If someone cancels, a full refund will be given to them,” said Khan.
{{/usCountry}}“There was some cancellation charge of around ₹5,000-7,000 that was levied in previous years if pilgrims cancel, but we are doing away with that this year. If someone cancels, a full refund will be given to them,” said Khan.
{{/usCountry}}Khan added those who cancel after the announcement by either of the government will also be provided with the refund, however that may happen within a year.
“On our end it is very difficult to make arrangements, we would advise people to not go for Haj this year. About next year, fresh applications will be called later,” Khan added.
Zafar Jamal of Federation Haj PTOs of India said that by the month Ramzan they fill their quota of 50,000 pilgrims. However, due to the pandemic, only 30% of pilgrims had registered with them.
“We are awaiting details from Saudi government, which is expected to be out on Saturday. Then we will take a call on what needs to be done. There may be a change in quota and the pilgrimage may become expensive then. In that case there will anyways be a lot of cancellations. Even we would advice pilgrims to not opt for pilgrimage this year,” said Jamal.