India, July 24 -- The Maharashtra Home department has been urged to initiate a comprehensive investigation into a growing refund crisis, affecting over 2,000 Hajj pilgrims from Pune and other cities of the state. The pilgrims, who had booked the 2025 pilgrimage through private tour operators (PTOs), are yet to receive refunds, months after their trips were cancelled following a sharp reduction in India's private Hajj quota by the Saudi government.

Each pilgrim couple reportedly paid between Rs.16 lakh and Rs.18 lakh for deluxe packages, with full payments made by April 2025. However, after the Saudi government slashed 80% of the quota allotted to private operators, most of these packages were scrapped. Despite the Hajj concluding in June...