18 companies have applied for licenses to operate Hajj pilgrimages this year, the government has revealed.

The Islamic Ministry will authorize five companies to carry pilgrims, under the criterion that they are existing pilgrimage agency owned completely by Maldivians.

The directors of the company must also have no record of a criminal convention and should not charge additional fees from pilgrims, other than the fees included in their proposals.

The Saudi Arabian government has afforded a 2,000-pilgrim quota to the Maldives, which stands for the duration of a year.

In February, the Islamic Ministry authorized 25 companies to carry pilgrims to Mecca for Umrah, with each being given an individual quota based on their proposal and the government’s scoring process.

A transitional committee established by the current government during the transfer of power in 2018 found that over MVR 20 million paid by pilgrims to the Maldives Hajj Corporation is unaccounted for.