Audit exposes over MVR 660,000 collected by Eydhafushi council left undeposited for years
A 2024 audit report found that Baa atoll Eydhafushi Council failed to deposit MVR 660,750 in sea vessel safety fees collected between 2014 and 2022 into the required public bank account, violating the Public Finance Act. The council cited difficulty identifying the sender of funds as the reason for the delay. The audit recommends depositing all state revenue into the central bank account as mandated by law.
An aerial view of B. Eydhafushi
An audit report has revealed that over MVR 600,000, collected by the Eydhafushi Council from 2014 to the end of 2022, were not deposited into the public bank account as required by law.
This disclosure was made in the 2024 Audit Report for the Baa atoll Eydhafushi Council Office, published by the Auditor General's Office in December 2024.
Under the Public Finance Act (Law No. 3/2006), all state revenue is required to be deposited into a public bank account.
In addition to this, the Public Finance Regulation, specifically Article 5.27, mandates that revenue received by state offices be deposited into the account maintained by the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) for onward transfer to the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
The audit report confirms that, while revenue received by the Eydhafushi council in 2024 has been deposited correctly into the central bank’s public bank account, a total of MVR 660,750, received as sea vessel safety fees from 2014 to 2022, had not been deposited by the audit date of 21 August 2025.
The report notes that the Eydhafushi council explained the delay in deposit, citing the inability to identify the sender of the funds. Efforts to trace the source of these funds are reportedly ongoing.
The audit recommends that all state revenue be deposited into the central bank’s public bank account for transfer to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, in line with the requirements outlined in Article 5.27 (a) of the Public Finance Act.
