RIYADH- Hajj 2018 would likely to get more costly, as SaudiArabia government has imposed 5% tax on Hajj services and denied toallocate additional Hajj quota to Pakistan.

The credible sources have claimed that the Saudi government has informedthe officials of Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding imposition tax andadditional quota.

Sources said that 5% services tax was imposed on pilgrims for usingtransport, residence and other services in Saudi Arabialink> . As many as 179,210 Pakistanisare visiting Saudi Arabia link> toperform link>Hajjlink>through private and governmentlink>Hajj link>schemesthis year.

According to a new policy, private link>Hajjlink>quota reduced to 33%, against which privatehajj link> tour operators moved to differentcourts of the country.

Sources further started that Pakistan has asked Saudi officials forallocating link>Hajjlink>quota according new census, so thatgovernment can allocate more quota to privatelink>Hajj link> touroperators, but Saudi government had denied allocating more quota due tolack of capacity in Mina.

Pakistani officials have also informed Saudi officials of startingbio-metric system in Pakistan and requested to exempt bio-metricverification on Saudi airports.

It was feared that effects of tax imposition and decrease in the value ofrupee will be a costly pilgrimage.

Ministry of religious affairs has already assured to bear the extraexpenses. Private link>Hajjlink> tour operators said new Saudi taxes willaffect them more.