Hajj Dues Deadline Nears as Ministry Tells Pilgrims to Pay Second Installment Before October 20
Islamabad: Time is running short for pilgrims under the government Hajj scheme. The Ministry of Religious Affairs repeated its warning on Saturday: the second installment of Hajj dues must be paid before October 20, and anyone who misses the deadline will see their application cancelled automatically, with the amount already deposited refunded.
Paying from home is an option
A ministry spokesperson said the installment can be paid through the National Information Technology Board’s Digital Hajj Portal or the Pak Hajj mobile app, by bank card, through 1Link, or with a manual bank challan. By the latest count, 51,500 pilgrims have already paid, bringing in Rs32.6 billion. Of them, 26,000 paid through 1Link, 2,126 by bank card and 23,200 through manual challans — meaning more than half of all payments have been made online.
No payment without a medical fitness certificate
One step is catching pilgrims out. A verified medical fitness certificate is now compulsory before the installment can be paid: the form is downloaded from the portal, verified by an authorised doctor, and the certified copy uploaded back to the portal. Until that is done, the payment simply will not proceed — which is why the ministry is urging applicants not to leave everything to the final day.
The government scheme covers 107,526 of Pakistan’s total Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims. The ministry says applicants should keep checking the Pak Hajj app for the latest instructions.
