Garage Permits Dropped for Taxis and Disability Vehicles, New Registration Fees Introduced

The Motor Vehicle Registration Rules were amended yesterday to eliminate the need for garage permits to register taxis and vehicles for people with disabilities, whilst also introducing a new registration fee of MVR 10,000 for taxis.

Vehicles that fit these two categories do not need a garage permit to register, but under the new rules, all other vehicles will be registered upon presentation of documentation that a garage will accommodate the vehicle.

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The required documents include:

– A letter from the garage owner confirming no objections to parking the vehicle in their facility.

– A copy of the garage owner’s ID card.

– Documentation verifying the registration status of the garage where the vehicle will be parked.

Previously, all vehicles in these categories were mandated to obtain a garage permit for registration.

The issue of garage permits has been a matter of contention, with previous attempts in Parliament to repeal this requirement, deeming it unnecessary. The initial motion to abolish the garage permit requirement did not pass, leading to a subsequent motion pursuing the same goal.

While the garage permit requirement for taxis has been removed, the new regulations now impose a registration fee of MVR 10,000 for those operating as taxis. Notably, this fee had been removed from the government’s previous rules gazetted in March.

In addition to the revision of taxi registration fees, the Transport ministry has introduced a fee of MVR 15,000 for the issuance of temporary registration to vehicles brought into the Maldives for various projects. This marks a departure from the previous practice, where no fee was charged for the registration of such vehicles.