The Maldives Transport Authority has extended its ongoing ‘Ehlakin Mashah Licence’ (literally ‘my licence in one go’) program until Thursday.

The fast-track licence program allows locals to undertake theory and practical tests to acquire driving licences within a day.

The program was initially to be held from Friday, when it was launched, to Monday. To participate, one must collect a token for it. 200 tokens are issued daily at the social center, from 04:00pm to 5:00pm.

The program has received tremendous support, with 30,000 people having participated and 746 of them being given driving licences. The expedited procedure bears no additional costs; except for the theory exam and license card fee.

However, the program has come under scrutiny after applicants expressed concern over applications asking for information that is surreptitiously unnecessary and ‘irrelevant’.

They were asked to give details of their social media accounts, including Twitter and Instagram, as well as their Viber and WhatsApp numbers, on the forms. There have been allegations that this a ploy to collect personal information from applicants, reportedly to be used in President Yameen’s re-election bid.

Refuting this, the deputy minister of the economic ministry Abdullah Mohamed said that the information was to be used in running awareness programmes for the youth.