LEMBAGA Tabung Haji (TH) must appoint more agencies to organise haj and umrah pilgrimages instead of operating a “cartel” system with the same players to the detriment of travellers, the Malaysian Umrah & Hajj Travel Agency Association (Papuh) said today.

Papuh president Razali Mohd Sham said this will prevent pilgrims from getting stranded due to visa problems.

Razali said TH should not appoint the same agencies every year to organise pilgrimages. Instead, the agencies should be rotated every two years.

“The time has come for the ‘TH cartel’ system practised by TH to be overhauled and other agencies to be given a chance to become a haj operator licence (PJH) holder.

“Papuh recommends that every travel agency that becomes a PJH must be replaced every two years,” he said in a statement.

Haj and umrah travel agencies must posses a PJH issued by TH.

It is an offence under the Tabung Haji Act 1995 to organise a haj without a licence.

Only about 20 PJH agencies are registered with TH, with the rest possessing a licence from the the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

Razali said unlicensed travel agencies worked around the closed system by offering the pilgrims a guest visa obtained from Saudi Arabia instead of the the country’s quota system.

Papuh’s proposal came after 400 Malaysian pilgrims were stranded last week at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after being cheated by a travel agency.

Police confirmed receiving at least 57 reports of haj package fraud involving a travel agency. The travellers were estimated to have been cheated of RM2.37 million. – July 11, 2022.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia limited the number of international pilgrims to just a million. As a result, the number of invited pilgrim visas has grown more limited.