Male’, Maldives – Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) statistics has shown that the the government received MVR 128 million as income from fines in 2020.
MIRA’s recently publicized statistical report for 2020 has revealed that the government received MVR 128,339,279 during the year. This is a MVR 69 million reduction from 2019, when the revenue from fines was MVR 197.4 million.
The government also has received 1.5 million USD in fines last year, as per the monthly total USD revenue report by MIRA.
According to the monthly total revenue series report by MIRA, fine income was high in January, and peaked in February at MVR 23.8 million in 2020. However, the next 3 months saw a huge decrease, as lockdown took effect. In May, less than MVR 2 million was collected in fines.
After may, fine income started to increase, as fines for lockdown violations were introduced. After lockdowns were lifted around the Maldives, fine income increased as well.
The Health Protection Agency has also recently increased fines for guideline violations, with legal entities having to pay more than MVR 100,000 for repeat offences.
The government received a lot of criticism last year for implementing fines for lockdown violations, with the opposition condemning the repeat fines of individuals going outside for necessities. This administration has also been criticized for the increased number fines being taken from traffic violations.
