Description / Scope of Work
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Government of Pakistan, invites expressions of interest from scheduled banks for the provision of Hajj dues collection banking services for Hajj 2027 (1448H). The selected bank shall open and operate a commercial account in the name of the Ministry to receive deposits from successful pilgrims in accordance with a two-instalment schedule comprising a first instalment to be determined at the time of application submission and a final instalment comprising the balance amount as notified by the Ministry. This procurement is issued from the Pakistan Secretariat in Islamabad and covers the entire territory of Pakistan through the selected bank's branch network.
Eligibility criteria require that participating banks must be scheduled institutions licensed by the State Bank of Pakistan with a dedicated Islamic banking window or full-fledged Islamic banking subsidiary to ensure Shariah-compliant account management. Applicant banks must maintain a minimum network of 400 online branches across Pakistan and hold a minimum long-term credit rating of AA from a SECP-recognised rating agency, specifically PACRA or VIS Credit Rating Company Limited, current and valid at the time of submission. The Ministry reserves the right to accept or reject any bank based on its performance during the last three Hajj operations in accordance with the PPRA Rules 2004.
Sealed expressions of interest must be submitted on the prescribed proforma to M. Hafeez Khokhar at the Ministry on or before 20th July 2026 at 12:30 hours, with opening scheduled for 14:00 hours the same day in the Committee Room. The selected bank shall provide comprehensive payment integration services including 1-Link payment handling for over-the-counter and ATM/CDM transactions, card payment gateway supporting Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay with PCI-DSS compliance, digital challan management with real-time status updates, secure APIs for payment initiation and reconciliation, and minimum service availability of 99.9% across all payment channels. Technical support documentation, sandbox environments, and service level agreements must be provided, with the selected bank required to establish a secure VPN connection with the Ministry at its own cost and enter into a formal agreement within 7 days of selection notification.