Consumer Protection of Umrah Pilgrims in Malaysia

Abstract

The Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and is performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. The number of registered Malaysian Umrah pilgrims continued to increase annually. However, there are many complaints reported in the Tribunal for Consumer Claims in relation to this service. The aim of the article is to analyse the extent to which the relevant laws protect the rights of Umrah consumers in Malaysia. Being qualitative in nature, this study collects relevant framework which includes laws, regulations and guidelines which are related to Umrah services. The purpose is to analyse the adequacy of the existing consumer protection laws in protecting Umrah pilgrims. The result of the study indicated that in Malaysia, the existing laws are inadequate to provide a comprehensive protection to the Umrah pilgrims. This study proposes improvement to the existing laws so that it will be able to provide adequate protection to the Umrah pilgrims.