ISLAMABAD: More than 22,000 Pakistani intending pilgrims have paid second installment of their Hajj dues under the government pilgrimage scheme, the Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) said on Tuesday.

Pakistan allocated 107,526 slots, including 30,000 for a shorter package, to the government scheme, while another 71,696 slots have been allocated to the private scheme for next year’s Hajj.

The country completed online booking of all seats under the government Hajj scheme in August, marking the first time the entire quota had been filled through a digital reservation system.

On Tuesday, the religious affairs ministry said 22,172 intending pilgrims had paid second installment of their dues, depositing Rs14.17 billion ($51.2 million) via online and manual banking channels.

“The proportion of online payments made from home via the digital Hajj portal has risen to over 55 percent,” the ministry said.

The digital push forms part of Pakistan’s first four-year Hajj policy, covering 2027-2030, which replaces annual policies and calls for the digitization of payments, complaints and monitoring as authorities seek to improve transparency and oversight of pilgrimage operations.

Of the 22,172 people who paid their second installment, 1012,743 paid from home through the 1Link network, 1,089 paid via bank cards and 8,340 preferred manual bank challans.

“Uploading a medical fitness certificate to the Hajj portal is mandatory before paying the second installment,” the ministry said.

This month, the ministry announced that intending pilgrims could submit second installment of dues under the government scheme from Oct. 5 till Oct. 20, warning of cancelations if payments were not made by the cut-off date.

Pakistan this year announced that pilgrims would pay Rs1.2 million ($4,334) for a 40-day Hajj package and Rs1.3 million ($4,695) for a shorter, 20- to 25-day package under the government scheme.

Payments of first installment of dues for seats under the shorter government package were completed within 24 hours after the process began on Aug. 18, while the remaining seats under the scheme were booked by Aug. 25.