ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The Ministry of Religious Affairs has issued a final and conclusive deadline to organised Hajj companies under the Private Hajj Scheme 2027, directing private operators to activate all Hajj packages by August 31 or face confiscation of their inactive quota.
According to sources in the Ministry of Religious Affairs, only 54 pilgrims were booked during the first five days of the scheme against the 71,684 seats allocated to the private sector — a booking ratio of just 0.1 percent, leaving 99.9 percent of the private Hajj quota still unsold.
The ministry has written to organised Hajj companies instructing them to activate all package categories on the Hajj Management System in accordance with their allocated quota.
The letter makes clear that if the instructions are not complied with within three days, inactive quota may be confiscated. Sources said such quota could be transferred to other Hajj companies, and there is also a possibility of it being folded into the government Hajj scheme.
Recovery of dues under the Private Hajj Scheme began on August 23. The private scheme has been allocated 40 percent of the country’s total Hajj quota, amounting to 71,684 seats — implying a national allocation of roughly 179,000 pilgrims for the 2027 season.
The near-total absence of bookings in the opening week is the central issue. Under the current framework, quota is allocated to registered companies in advance, and a company that fails to load and activate its packages on the official system effectively blocks seats that intending pilgrims cannot access — a bottleneck that has historically triggered administrative intervention late in the cycle.
The ministry’s move is also tied to a significant structural reform. Sources said that from next year, pilgrims travelling under the private Hajj scheme will for the first time be able to select from different private Hajj packages through the Ministry of Religious Affairs website, and private Hajj companies will be required to advertise their packages on the website.
That change is intended to shift the private Hajj market toward price and service transparency. At present, intending pilgrims typically negotiate directly with individual operators, with limited ability to compare accommodation distance from the Haram, meal arrangements, transport and total cost across companies. Placing all packages on a single official platform would allow direct comparison and create a documented record of what was promised at the point of sale.
It also gives the ministry an enforcement instrument. Because activation on the Hajj Management System is now the precondition for holding quota, the department can identify non-performing operators quickly and reallocate seats rather than allowing them to lie unused until the season closes.
Pakistan’s Hajj arrangements are split each year between a government scheme, administered directly by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and a private scheme operated by licensed Hajj group organisers. The division of the national quota between the two has been a recurring point of negotiation, with the private sector’s share settling at 40 percent for the coming season.
Quota utilisation carries consequences beyond a single season. Seats left unfilled represent both a loss to intending pilgrims and a complication in the annual bilateral arrangements under which the total allocation is determined.
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