“I parked my car at Al-Rusaifah car park and took the bus to the Grand Mosque for only SR2. But to come back, I had to pay SR100 to the driver of a private car,” said Fahd Al-Mutairi, a Saudi pilgrim.

He said when he objected to this fare, the driver of the private car challenged him to find a cheaper price.

“The driver asked me to get out if I did not like the price and defied me to find anything cheaper,” he said.

Al-Mutairi suspects the drivers of forming a cartel to jack up the prices.

“The possibility of such an agreement cannot be dismissed because they are all asking for the same price. This cannot be a coincidence,” he said.

Abdullah Al-Mastouri, another Saudi pilgrim, said he went with his family from Jeddah to Makkah to perform Umrah and was parking his car at public parking lot when a young man in a private car stopped near him. He said the young man offered to drive him to the Grand Mosque for SR30 but after negotiations he agreed to SR25.

“To my surprise, the young man told me that the price in normal days would not exceed SR5,” he said.

Al-Mastouri said he faced real hardship coming from the Haram to the parking lot.

“I only had SR75 left with me but every taxi or private car driver insisted on SR100 to take him back to Al-Rusaifah parking lot. I almost lost my mind because I did not have the amount they requested but luckily one of them agreed to accept SR75,” he said.

Mansour Allahayani suggested that authorities provide buses to take the pilgrims from the parking lots to the Haram and back.

“The central area around the Haram should be kept free of private cars. Only public transport buses should be allowed to enter,” he said.