JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has called for the maximum penalty to be imposed on companies involved in umrah package scams.
Its president Datuk Hamzah Rahmat said he was deeply saddened to hear of yet another scam involving pilgrims who had purchased cheap packages.
It was reported that 87 pilgrims from Batu Pahat, Johor were currently stranded in Saudi Arabia from Dec 26 after their travel agency failed to arrange their return flight tickets to Malaysia.
"There is no such thing as a cheap Haj package", he said, adding that those who manage to purchase anything for less than the minimum RM4,900 would discover its shortcomings, but by then it would be too late.
"For example, those who are offered RM3,000 packages will be thinking that they are saving RM1,900, but they may end up losing all RM3,000 instead," he said in a statement here on Friday.
He also urged any benefactors who wished to subsidise umrah packages to step forward and work with Matta to allow pilgrims to receive such benefits with peace of mind.
He urged the public to be wary of any discounted travel package, particularly those planning to perform the umrah, and to get their packages from travel agents with a licence from the Tourism and Culture Ministry.