Hajj agencies ask govt to return retained fee share
Hajj agencies have asked the government to return the Tk. 3,062.50 it has kept back from the moallem fee payment of each hajj passenger, with the total adding up to Tk. 36.60 crore.
When they filled in the pre-registration form, the hajj agencies deposited Tk. 23,413.50 as the moallem fee for each hajj passenger. During a cabinet meeting on February 19, that amount was fixed as the moallem fee per head for 2017.
But the religious affairs ministry directed the Sonali Bank authorities on July 6 to return Tk. 20,351 through a pay order, keeping Tk. 3062.5 from the payment of each hajj passenger, the president of the Bangladesh Hajj Jatri and Haji Kalyan Parishad stated in a press release yesterday. This is against the Hajj Policy 2017 declared by the government, it was added.
The president of the Parishad has urged the religious affairs minister and the ministry secretary to return the amount immediately. The ministrys decision to keep Tk. 3,062.5 is totally illegal and undermines the cabinet decision, he added.
In all, 119,509 passengers deposited the moallem fee
during pre-registration. This takes the total fees kept back to Tk. 36.60 crore.
