Complain Against a Hajj or Umrah Operator in Pakistan and Claim Compensation
Complain against a Hajj or Umrah operator in Pakistan. Under the 2024 Act a ministry committee can fine, blacklist and order compensation. Steps and numbers.
You can complain against a Hajj or Umrah operator to the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Islamabad. Under the Hajj and Umrah Act 2024, a four-member complaint committee can fine the operator, blacklist it and order it to pay you back. Send your complaint with proof to the ministry's WhatsApp complaint number, 0306-3332555, or by email to hajjinfo@mora.gov.pk.
We read the Act in the Gazette of Pakistan of 30 August 2024, on the ministry's own website, and we checked the contact routes the ministry lists on mora.gov.pk on 2 October 2026. One warning before you start: the law protects pilgrims who booked with a licensed or attested operator. If your agent is not on the ministry's lists, your complaint is much weaker.
The Hajj and Umrah Act 2024 makes operators liable for your hardship
Section 13 of the Hajj and Umrah Act 2024 makes a Hajj or Umrah organiser liable for any act, omission, negligence or default that causes hardship to a pilgrim in breach of the agreement. That covers a missing hotel, a cancelled flight or money taken for services never given.
The Act calls a private Hajj operator a Hajj Group Organiser, or HGO. An Umrah company is an Umrah Group Organiser, or UGO. Section 10 lets the ministry licence UGOs and suspend or cancel a licence after a show cause notice. Section 12 ties registration to a security deposit.
That deposit matters to you. Section 16 lets the committee forfeit the operator's performance guarantee, so there is money the ministry can reach.
A four-member committee decides complaints against operators
Complaints go to a Complaint Disposal Committee, or CDC. Section 14 says it has four members and is chaired by an officer of grade BPS-20 or above. It decides all complaints about breaches of agreement during Hajj or Umrah that caused hardship to pilgrims.
The committee has real powers. Section 16 lists them, and we have set them out below in plain words.
| Penalty type | What the CDC can do |
|---|---|
| Major penalty | Blacklist the operator, permanently or for a time |
| Major penalty | Suspend or cancel its licence |
| Major penalty | Cut a Hajj operator's quota, or take its performance guarantee |
| Minor penalty | A fine matched to the breach, a quota cut under 5 per cent, or a warning |
| For you | Order compensation, up to the claim you prove |
That last row is the one most people miss. Section 16(4) lets the CDC order compensation to an aggrieved pilgrim, or an intending pilgrim who never travelled, up to the amount of the claim that is proved. Proof is the key word.
File your complaint in five steps
Collect your contract, receipts and messages, confirm the operator is licensed, then send one written complaint to the ministry with copies of everything. Keep a record of the date you sent it. Do not send originals.
- Gather proof. Keep the package contract, payment receipts, bank transfer slips, the visa copy, hotel vouchers and any WhatsApp messages from the agent. Photos of the hotel or bus help too.
- Check the operator's name. For Umrah, search the ministry's list of attested Umrah tour operators. It had 108 companies for 2026-27 when we read it on 2 October 2026, each with a DTS licence number.
- Write one short complaint. Give your name, CNIC, passport number, the operator's name and licence number, the dates of travel, what was promised, what went wrong and how much you lost.
- Send it to the ministry. Use the official WhatsApp complaint number 0306-3332555, linked from mora.gov.pk, and email the same file to hajjinfo@mora.gov.pk.
- Follow up by phone. The ministry lists Hajj helplines 051-9205696, 051-9216980, 051-9216981 and 051-9216982. Ask for your complaint's reference.
The Act does not set out a complaint form, and we did not find one on the ministry's website. A plain written complaint with copies is the safe choice.
Private Hajj pilgrims have a more direct route. A ministry notice of 1 October 2026 tells private pilgrims of Hajj 2026 to send complaints against their Hajj company, with proof, to the Section Officer (Monitoring) by post or by email at somonitoringhgo@gmail.com, phone 051-9215871. It sets a hard deadline of 20 October 2026, after which the ministry returns the companies' performance guarantees and closes every late complaint.
If you are still in Saudi Arabia, report the problem on the spot as well. Theft or harassment there has its own route, which we explain in how Pakistani pilgrims report harassment or theft in Makkah.
You have 30 days to appeal a committee decision
If you disagree with the CDC's decision, appeal to the appellate committee within 30 days of receiving it. If the appellate committee also rules against you, you can go to the district judge's court within another 30 days.
Section 15 creates three-member appellate committees chaired by an officer of BPS-21 or above. Section 17 gives them 30 days from filing to decide an appeal, extendable by up to 30 more days with approval. The operator has the same right to appeal, so a win at the first stage may not be the end.
Keep the date you received each decision. The 30 days run from receipt, and a late appeal can be refused.
Unregistered agents leave you with little protection
The 2024 Act and the committee cover licensed Hajj and Umrah organisers. If you paid a person or office that is not on the ministry's lists, the ministry has no licence to suspend and no guarantee to forfeit.
New Umrah rules notified in July 2026 say complaints will be heard only against approved Umrah companies, as reported. We did not find the text of those rules on the ministry's website, so treat that as reported. The direction is clear either way. Book only with a listed company, and check the list before you pay, as we explain in how to get an Umrah visa from Pakistan.
If you were cheated by someone outside the system, the route is a police or criminal complaint for fraud, not the ministry's committee. A government Hajj pilgrim with a problem in the government scheme can also use the Hajj helplines above.
The ministry's other complaint routes have limits
Some links on the ministry's website do not lead where they should. When we checked on 2 October 2026, the "Hajj Management System (Complaints)" link opened an unrelated organisation's contact page, so use WhatsApp, email and the helplines instead.
If the ministry itself does not act on your complaint for a long time, that is a question of maladministration by a federal body. The Wafaqi Mohtasib complaint process is built for that, and the ministry links to the Federal Ombudsman from its own home page.
Government scheme pilgrims should also know their own rights under the Hajj Policy 2027 to 2030, which sets out refunds and the waiting list.
Common questions
Where do I complain about an Umrah agent in Pakistan?
To the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Islamabad. Send a written complaint with copies of your contract and receipts to its WhatsApp complaint number 0306-3332555 and to hajjinfo@mora.gov.pk.
Can the ministry get my money back?
It can order it. Section 16(4) of the Hajj and Umrah Act 2024 lets the complaint committee order compensation up to the claim you prove.
What if my agent is not registered?
The committee's powers apply to licensed Hajj and Umrah organisers. Against an unregistered agent, file a fraud complaint with the police instead.
How long do I have to appeal?
30 days from receiving the committee's decision. After the appellate committee, you have another 30 days to go to the district judge.
Is there a fee to complain?
The Act does not set a complaint fee, and the ministry's site lists none. Be careful of anyone who asks for money to "process" your complaint.
Can I complain while I am still in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. WhatsApp and email work from anywhere. Report the problem on the spot too, and keep photos and messages as proof.
How we verified this
What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.
Last checked on 2 October 2026. We read the Hajj and Umrah Act 2024 as published in the Gazette of Pakistan of 30 August 2024, sections 10 to 17, on the ministry's website. The WhatsApp complaint number, email address and helplines are from mora.gov.pk. The count of 108 attested Umrah operators is from the ministry's list on the same day. The July 2026 Umrah rules on complaints are reported; we did not find their text on the ministry's site. We did not file a test complaint, so we cannot say how fast the ministry replies.
About the author
Public Services and Education Journalist
Fajr Riaz is a journalist and content writer at Pakistan Era, based in Lahore. She covers the questions people meet in everyday life in Pakistan: how a public service works, what a change in the rules means, and where to find a reliable answer.
