JEDDAH, 29 November 2007 — The Ministry of Haj has lost a case brought against it by Labbaik Operations and Marketing Company in the Court of Grievances. Labbaik, which was set up about six years ago, had lost its ministry accreditation in its second year of operation following complaints from clients.
An Umrah services company that dealt with Labbaik had filed a complaint claiming that the company owed them money and the ministry revoked its accreditation to market Umrah services through the Internet.
Many Umrah services companies presented their offers on Labbaik’s website, and agents abroad could log on to the site and choose from packages on offer.
Labbaik filed the lawsuit against the ministry five years ago.
Yasser Al-Khouli, chairman of Labbaik, said that the Umrah services company did not offer his company any services in the first place and so it was impossible that his company owed them anything.
“The final verdict issued by the Court of Grievances proved that we did not commit any violations and thus the ministry’s procedure in withdrawing our accreditation is no longer valid,” Al-Khouli said.
Two years ago after Labbaik filed its complaint, the Court of Grievances issued a verdict that was in the ministry’s favor. Labbaik appealed the verdict and the case went back to the Commission for Investigations.
The court’s statement, of which Arab News has a copy of, nullifies the previous verdict. It also repealed the ministry’s consequential procedures of stopping the company and canceling its accreditation.
The statement also shows that absolute termination of an accreditation is not among the penalties that the ministry can hand down. The ministry can either impose fines, give the company the responsibility to bear all the financial compensations to solve the problem with the other party or temporarily retract the accreditation.
After being inactive for five years, Labbaik’s financial losses exceeded SR400 million, Al-Khouli said. “We are now looking for an amicable settlement with the ministry. If not, we will have to file another lawsuit for compensation,” he said.
“It is not only the financial loss. We lost the human resources that we trained. We lost our credibility and reputation in the market locally and internationally,” he added.
Al-Khouli said the ministry did not believe Labbaik’s explanation saying that they were an executive organization, not an investigative one. “They withdrew the accreditation that they gave us. These companies did not offer us any services and accordingly we were not asked to pay them any money,” Al-Khouli said.
