Haab announces private hajj package; minimum cost Tk 6.72 lakh

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (Haab) has announced the package for performing hajj under private management this year, fixing the minimum cost at Tk 6,72,618, which is about Tk 1.5 lakh more than last year.

Apart from this, every pilgrim will have to pay additional money to collect a coupon from Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia for Qurbani.

Haab, a platform of around 1500 private hajj agencies, announced the minimum rate today during a press conference at a city hotel.

Haab President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim said each pilgrim under this hajj package will be accommodated at a maximum distance of 1,500 metres from the boundary of the outer premises of the Holy Haram Sharif.

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Any additional fees imposed by the Saudi government after the package announcement will be considered as price of the package and payable by the Hajj pilgrim, Taslim said.

The Haab president said hajj agencies will be able to announce separate "special hajj package" on their own but amount of any such package will not be below the minimum rate of hajj package.

Last year, the minimum rate of the hajj package under private hajj agencies was Tk 5.22 lakh. The religious affairs ministry yesterday proposed a minimum rate of Tk 6.57 lakh under private hajj management.However, the minimum rate declared today is Tk 15,000 more.

The Haab boss said they have announced the general hajj package after calculating the airfare, house rent in Saudi Arabia, service charges, food cost and other fees.

The Haab chief also said the reason behind the hike is due to the exchange rate of Saudi Riyal, 15 percent VAT on all services, service charges and inclusion of taxes by the Saudi authority.

The government on Wednesday announced the minimum rate of hajj package at Tk 6.83 lakh to perform hajj this year under government management, around Tk 1.61 lakh more than the previous year.