Ismail Simjee
19-08-07, 05:51 PM
Unlike the granting of Umra License to external contractors all over the world, the issuing of Hajj License is somewhat different.
The Ministry of Hajj grants license to agents all over the world through its Field Services Mutawwifs.
Mutawwifs replaced what used to be “Muallims”, around 16 years or so ago. The Ministry of Haj established a “Trial Field Service” and divided the world into:
1. Far East Asia : Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and eastwards.
2. South Asia: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka plus Maldives.
3. South Africa.
4. Africa.
5. North Africa – non African Arab countries.
6. The Arabian Countries including GCC.
7. Europa and Turkiyya – whole of Europe, North America, New Zealand, Australia.
8. South America.
EUROPA FIELD SERVICES.
UK has an un-official quota of around 22,000 Hujjajs. The field services then allocate 5 Mutawwifs to handle these pilgrims. The services of the Mutawwifs is supposedly free.
The Ministry of Haj contracts out the management of pilgrims to “United Agencies”. United Agencies subsequently organise the airport, seaport and land transportation, the camps at Mina and Arafat and the night stopover site of Muzdalifa.
They recover their cost from the “Tanazzul and Naqabat” that every pilgrim has to pay irrespective of her/his financial standing. Currently that is SR1039 for adult and half for children.
This money is used to pay for the services the pilgrim received from the day s/he enter Saudi Arabia until s/he leaves. The Field Services organisations also receive their cost from the United Agency.
About 5 years ago the Ministry of Haj introduced bar coding system and granted existing agents their respective request for the number of Hujjajs they aspired to bring in for Hajj.
They also introduced regulations which compelled such agents to submit hotel contracts to their respective Mutawwifs and a deposit sum for “Naqabat” meaning transport services.
Once the agents supplied the required documents that met the set criteria, bar codes were issued. The agent would not be allowed to exceed these limits. If he failed to meet this limit he is penalised SR300 for each un-utilised bar code and his allocation is reduced the following year by an un-specified number at discretion of the Mutawwif.
The bar code allocation is by application which is commenced mid Shaban every year and closes by 15 Shavval.
The external agents conclude their hotel arrangements by Jamad ul Awwal every year. Good hotels at economic rates are few and far between. They are quickly snapped up by agents from all over the world.
Hotels charge an absolutely non-refundable payment scheme of 35%, 35% and 30% basis in instalments with the last payment to be completed by mid Ramadan. If agents fail to utilise their booking they lose the money unless they are able to sell of their rooms. However, as the rules for bar-code is based around all hotels being contracted, very few, if any, agents look for rooms around Haj time which results in major loss by the agent if they are unable to market their package.
The first year this was introduced, almost all of the UK based agents failed to utilise their quota and were financially penalised and some suffering reduction in their quota.
The following year, some agents mis-judged the Mutawwifs working deadline and arrived late to apply for their quota and lost their bar codes.
The gross consequence of such loss had a major impact in the Hajj 2005. Some agents suffered financial bankruptcy because they were unable to get the necessary bar-codes for the bookings they had taken in UK and the payments they had made to hotels. Others had to “buy” these bar-codes at exorbitant rates so as to fulfil their contract.
The Saudi government also banned registering new applicants for Haj license and has been issuing bar codes only to existing agents that were registered when the system was introduced.
Hence, the major crisis came to surface in the year 2006 when the Haj coincided with the holiday period of December where demand for Haj was 25% higher than available quotas.
Rogue operators demanded extra payments from hujjaj under the false pretext that the Saudi government has increased the price and so on.
Bar-codes were said to have changed hands at around £500 each last Haj. Some agents who have guaranteed licenses are now circumventing the package and simply selling their bar codes to any agents willing to pay the price. In doing so they escape the hassle of organising hotels, airlines tickets and the care components involved which get passed on to those who buy the codes. They also make more money by the sale of bar code alone then what they would have earned had they taken packaged tours.
The Ministry of Hajj grants license to agents all over the world through its Field Services Mutawwifs.
Mutawwifs replaced what used to be “Muallims”, around 16 years or so ago. The Ministry of Haj established a “Trial Field Service” and divided the world into:
1. Far East Asia : Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and eastwards.
2. South Asia: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka plus Maldives.
3. South Africa.
4. Africa.
5. North Africa – non African Arab countries.
6. The Arabian Countries including GCC.
7. Europa and Turkiyya – whole of Europe, North America, New Zealand, Australia.
8. South America.
EUROPA FIELD SERVICES.
UK has an un-official quota of around 22,000 Hujjajs. The field services then allocate 5 Mutawwifs to handle these pilgrims. The services of the Mutawwifs is supposedly free.
The Ministry of Haj contracts out the management of pilgrims to “United Agencies”. United Agencies subsequently organise the airport, seaport and land transportation, the camps at Mina and Arafat and the night stopover site of Muzdalifa.
They recover their cost from the “Tanazzul and Naqabat” that every pilgrim has to pay irrespective of her/his financial standing. Currently that is SR1039 for adult and half for children.
This money is used to pay for the services the pilgrim received from the day s/he enter Saudi Arabia until s/he leaves. The Field Services organisations also receive their cost from the United Agency.
About 5 years ago the Ministry of Haj introduced bar coding system and granted existing agents their respective request for the number of Hujjajs they aspired to bring in for Hajj.
They also introduced regulations which compelled such agents to submit hotel contracts to their respective Mutawwifs and a deposit sum for “Naqabat” meaning transport services.
Once the agents supplied the required documents that met the set criteria, bar codes were issued. The agent would not be allowed to exceed these limits. If he failed to meet this limit he is penalised SR300 for each un-utilised bar code and his allocation is reduced the following year by an un-specified number at discretion of the Mutawwif.
The bar code allocation is by application which is commenced mid Shaban every year and closes by 15 Shavval.
The external agents conclude their hotel arrangements by Jamad ul Awwal every year. Good hotels at economic rates are few and far between. They are quickly snapped up by agents from all over the world.
Hotels charge an absolutely non-refundable payment scheme of 35%, 35% and 30% basis in instalments with the last payment to be completed by mid Ramadan. If agents fail to utilise their booking they lose the money unless they are able to sell of their rooms. However, as the rules for bar-code is based around all hotels being contracted, very few, if any, agents look for rooms around Haj time which results in major loss by the agent if they are unable to market their package.
The first year this was introduced, almost all of the UK based agents failed to utilise their quota and were financially penalised and some suffering reduction in their quota.
The following year, some agents mis-judged the Mutawwifs working deadline and arrived late to apply for their quota and lost their bar codes.
The gross consequence of such loss had a major impact in the Hajj 2005. Some agents suffered financial bankruptcy because they were unable to get the necessary bar-codes for the bookings they had taken in UK and the payments they had made to hotels. Others had to “buy” these bar-codes at exorbitant rates so as to fulfil their contract.
The Saudi government also banned registering new applicants for Haj license and has been issuing bar codes only to existing agents that were registered when the system was introduced.
Hence, the major crisis came to surface in the year 2006 when the Haj coincided with the holiday period of December where demand for Haj was 25% higher than available quotas.
Rogue operators demanded extra payments from hujjaj under the false pretext that the Saudi government has increased the price and so on.
Bar-codes were said to have changed hands at around £500 each last Haj. Some agents who have guaranteed licenses are now circumventing the package and simply selling their bar codes to any agents willing to pay the price. In doing so they escape the hassle of organising hotels, airlines tickets and the care components involved which get passed on to those who buy the codes. They also make more money by the sale of bar code alone then what they would have earned had they taken packaged tours.