President Denies Knowledge of Taxi App Corruption Allegations

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu said he has not received any reports of corruption related to the development of the state-run taxi application.

Responding to a question at a press conference held at the President’s Office yesterday, he said he was not aware of allegations that the mobile application for the “Malé Taxi” service had been awarded without a bidding process at a cost of MVR 13 million, reportedly higher than typical market rates.

However, the President acknowledged that the application is not functioning properly and said multiple issues have been identified.

“We, from the President’s Office, had informed MTCC and the then-Transport Ministry to make sure they look into this and to attend to it if they notice any kind of problem that does appear,” he said.

Addressing the allegations more broadly, Muizzu said the government would not allow any party to act in violation of the law or the Constitution, and that such actions would not be tolerated. He added that authorities would take action if any breaches are identified.

He also said the government would not accept a situation where citizens are unable to access taxi services due to the absence or malfunction of a booking system.

The President said efforts are underway to enable users to book taxi services within two weeks, alongside work to develop a dedicated application.

The Malé Taxi service was launched two days before the nationwide elections held on 4 April.