The Ministry of Religious Affairs has started an SMS service for Hajj pilgrims to protect them from fraudulent unauthorized and counterfeit Hajj tour operators.
The ministry said details about tour operators could be obtained by sending an SMS containing the first four digits of company license numbers to 8331.
The ministry has advised the forthcoming pilgrim to check the quota and authenticity of the Hajj operator before booking their packages.
The intending pilgrim would promptly receive a reply, containing details about the enrollment status of the HGO, name of its chief executive, its allotted quota and address.
The ultimate aim of SMS service is to help pilgrims save from untrue hajj group organizing companies (HGOs).