ACC notes corruption in issuing licenses, vehicle registrations

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of the Maldives has noted concerning and rampant instances of corruption in issuing licenses and registering vehicles within the existing framework.

ACC consultant Dr. Simad Saeed confirmed that the ACC had been hosting discussions with multiple stakeholders to compile a National Anti-Corruption Policy, at a meeting of the Parliament’s Committee on Independent Institutions on Wednesday.

Dr. Simad noted that during the ACC's interactions with other institutions, they had noted the most rampant corruption in issuing licenses for driving, and in the registration of vehicles. He added that there were many changes that needed to be made to discourage such instances of corruption, such as digitizing the system of issuing licenses.

Dr. Simad remarked that the current system for issuing licenses to drive vehicles in the Maldives employed by the Transport Authority was an ineffective, easily exploitable system. He said that those who wanted to hide or alter information about license acquisition and vehicle registration could do so easily under the current process. He added that decentralizing the current system could be one initiative undertaken to reduce the frequency of corruption based on the ACC's current findings.

In addition to this, Simad declared that an unbelievable amount of corruption had been observed in the registration of land vehicles in the Maldives. He added that they had received information that 70 vehicles had been registered to the same garage as well.

The Transport Ministry has previously admitted that corruption was apparent in the registration of vehicles at a parliament committee before as well, confirming that they were undertaking steps to prevent the occurrence. However, it is unclear how effective this has been, as the issue remains unresolved as per the assessment of ACC consultants.