Saudis not to pay insurance fee for unskilled Indian maids

RIYADH: Unskilled Indian housemaids, who carry a passport with a stamp of ECR (emigration clearance required), would not get paid for medical insurance by their Saudi sponsors, a media report said today.

"The medical insurance fee that citizens used to pay to recruitment firms at the time of hiring unskilled housemaids with an ECR passport is not valid now and hence the employer need not pay the amount," officials at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

The statement has been sent to recruitment firms on the basis of directives received from the ministry of labour and the Council of Saudi Chambers, the Saudi Gazette reported.

The recruitment firms used to charge about USD 2,500 for hiring housemaids from India, including insurance fee, the media report said.

There are 2.8 million Indian workers in Saudi Arabia and Indians form the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom. Of the around 500,000 domestic workers, mostly working as maids, helpers, drivers and cleaners, around 10 per cent are women.