Pilgrims face difficulties with India’s first-of-its-kind mandated GPS watch rollout for 1L+ Hajis

NEW DELHI: When a sudden airfare hike of ₹10,000 per pilgrim was announced in late April, it set off a wider debate over what India's Haj pilgrims were actually paying for—and one item that came under immediate scrutiny was a deduction for a GPS-enabled smartwatch that each of the 1.2 lakh pilgrims had been mandated to carry.

The 'Haj Suvidha Smartwatch' is a required safety device for Indian pilgrims this year. The decision, implemented by the Haj Committee of India, was centred around pilgrim safety, but has triggered questions over cost, execution and necessity. While the pre-bid estimate per piece was around Rs. 7,000, the final price was Rs. 5,110, Kausar Jahan, chairperson of the Delhi Haj Committee, told TOI.

The watch, procured by the Haj Committee of India and supplied by Sekyo, a Delhi-based firm, positioned as a safety measure is first-of-its-kind tracking initiative unmatched by any other major Haj-sending nation. But pilgrims who have since departed say the devices are “not turning on”, “not holding charge”, and not "actually tracking" anyone.

Sekyo told TOI that the watches are fully tested, functioning, and delivering 1–2 days of backup despite continuous health monitoring and live location transmission on international roaming, and no hardware replacement cases have been reported.

“Since many pilgrims are elderly, less educated, and not technically proficient, the watch is intentionally designed with restricted features during the Haj season. They simply need to charge and wear it regularly,” the company said.

According to members of the Delhi State Haj Committee, the smartwatch is included in the Haj kit distributed to pilgrims before departure: “Every year, some changes are made. The departure kit typically contains passport stickers, luggage tags, boarding passes, ID cards, and now, for the first time, a GPS-enabled watch,” a member told TOI.

Haj is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, with millions congregating in and around Mecca. Managing crowds, preventing stampedes and ensuring no pilgrim is lost are longstanding challenges. This year, 1.7-1.9 million people are expected to participate.

Unlike India, other major Haj-sending countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan rely instead on traditional group management systems and mobile-based coordination.

However, early feedback from pilgrims suggests that the rollout of the smartwatch that was designed to help track Indian pilgrims in real time and provide emergency assistance when needed, has been far from smooth.

Usman Ansari, a pilgrim from Old Delhi, told TOI that many travellers—particularly elderly and less tech-savvy individuals—are struggling to use the device. “They told us the watch would be activated in Saudi Arabia, but most people don’t know how to operate it. Around 70% were not able to use it,” he said.

Sekyo said, “We have provided multilingual user manuals and multilingual support videos in English and Hindi, actively shown across all 17 embarkation points. Sekyo and Haj Committee representatives are working tirelessly across India as well as Saudi Arabia to support pilgrims.”