Travel charges hiked for infants under govt's Hajj scheme

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has announced the policy for Hajj pilgrims under the government scheme who are travelling with infants born after September 5 – 2018, ARY News reported on Monday.

The travel charges have been doubled for infants during the last three years. The ministry announced that the parents will be charged 10 per cent of overall travel fares for infants.

The Hajj charges for infants born after Sept 5, 2018, under the government scheme will be Rs31,882 and Rs32,657 each infant for north and south regions respectively.

Read: Hajj expenses to rise to Rs 500,000 in year 2020

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony also unveiled the new date for submission of Hajj applications under the government scheme.

All the designated branches of banks will start receiving Hajj applications from Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the ministry. The applications will be received by banks till March 6.

He said banks will also receive forms on Saturday and Sunday. The spokesman said the Hajj application has been computerised and simplified.

Read: PM Imran Khan halts approval of exorbitant Hajj packages

The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony had earlier on Feb 21 restrained banks from receiving Hajj forms from Feb 24 (Monday) till further directives in this regard.

The ministry instructed all the designated branches of banks to not receive applications and wait for further directives, saying it would unveil a final date for submission of applications later on.