State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) has decided to take legal action against Male’ City Council for hiking the fees issued for work to dig roads to establish utility services.
At a press conference, Managing Director Ahmed Shareef said the fees have increased by 100% which has forced STELCO to raise the price of its services, negatively impacting the public. He said Male’ City Council made the decision without making an announcement or holding any discussion with utility companies, adding the council had raised the fee on January 1 but published the policy change on January 2.
Additionally, Managing Director Shareef said that Male’ City Council had not given any time for companies to adjust to the change and the council had also not held any discussions with the Local Government Authority (LGA). He said STELCO will go to court to reverse the change.
Furthermore, Managing Director Shareef said companies were not previously charged for digging pavements and working on junctions but the council is now charging USD1.6 for digging a foot of pavement, USD6.5 for removing stones to dig a foot of road, and USD20 for digging a foot of road to work on a junction.
Male’ City Council has also increased the fee for putting up a sign board on roads from USD3.9 to USD13 and the fee for closing off roads from USD9.7 to USD20. Managing Director Shareef said the changes will result in households having to pay 154% more for utility services.