Maldives Transport Authority (MTA) has made changes to its regulations to allow individuals to obtain their driver's license without requiring them to pay off fines they received while driving without a license.
Previous MTA regulations required individuals to completely pay off fines for traffic violations before they receive a driver's license. However, the regulations were changed to allow individuals to obtain a license without paying off the fines, following increasing public complaints.
At the previous council elections, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih vowed to solve the issues faced by individuals who have been fined for underage driving. The regulations state that individuals under 18 years of age are not allowed to drive vehicles and are penalised with huge fines if caught.
The statistics show 3,000 drivers are fined each year due to traffic violations and most are repeat offenders who have incurred a large number of unpaid fines.
Other changes to the regulations include subtracting points from driver's licenses for illegal parking, which may lead to revoking of the licenses.