The Ministry of Labor has accused several recruitment firms of trying to artificially raise the fees for hiring Indonesian maids by spreading rumors that negotiations are stuck and that there would be a shortage of workers.

Ahmed Al-Fuhaid, the ministry's undersecretary for international affairs, said these firms were trying to raise recruitment costs to "unimaginable levels."

Some firms had claimed that recruitment fees per worker would increase from SR8,000 to SR21,000, with monthly salaries raised from the previous SR1,000 to SR1,200.

Al-Fuhaid said there was no "ambiguity" about the recruitment agreement with Indonesia and that the ministry would not restart negotiations.

He said the agreement includes a decision to set up a joint working committee to finalize the mechanisms for the recruitment process and contracts.

The committee would reportedly meet in Riyadh next month and Jakarta in April. Recruitment would start after April, according to reports.

Al-Fuhaid said that recruitment costs should go down after the Kingdom signed the labor importing agreement. He said these recruitment firms were trying to make money out of citizens.

He said citizens would have to negotiate salaries with workers. "If a worker has extra skills, the person will surely demand a higher salary," he said.

He said the ministry has made extensive efforts to include recruitment costs in its labor agreements with various countries.

Ziyad Al-Sayegh, undersecretary for customer services and worker relations at the ministry, urged recruitment firms to provide citizens the best possible services.

He said that the ministry would punish firms if they provide poor services or violate recruitment regulations. The ministry has already stopped providing services to 26 recruitment offices and firms that violated regulations. There are 328 recruitment offices in the country.