RIYADH: 2018 would likely to get more costly, as Saudi Arabia government has imposed 5% tax on Hajj services and denied to allocate additional Hajj quota to Pakistan. The credible sources have claimed that the Saudi government has informed the officials of Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding imposition tax and additional quota. Sources said that 5% services tax was imposed on pilgrims for using transport, residence and other services in Saudi Arabia . As many as 179,210 Pakistanis are visiting Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj through private and government Hajj schemes this year. According to a new policy, private Hajj quota reduced to 33%, against which private hajjtour operators moved to different courts of the country. Sources further started that Pakistan has asked Saudi officials for allocating Hajj quota according new census, so that government can allocate more quota to private Hajj tour operators, but Saudi government had denied allocating more quota due to lack of capacity in Mina.
Pakistani officials have also informed Saudi officials of starting bio-metric system in Pakistan and requested to exempt bio-metric verification on Saudi airports.
