Male' City Council has put 241 parking slots in the capital up for sale.
When the same slots were put up for sale even last year, 969 people applied for the spots. The City Council drew lots among applicants on December 6, to decide the recipients of the parking slots. However, harsh public criticism was directed at the council for how they conducted the matter, and some applicants who did not receive slots took their complaints to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
After the issues arose, the City Council later decided to have a re-draw among the applicants after amending the issues raised by the applicants. However, ACC instructed the City Council to open up applications for the slots once again and move forward from there.
In an announcement issued on Thursday as per ACC instructions, the City Council said interested individuals may apply for the parking slots from February 16 onwards. Applications can be sent through the online portal established for the purpose.
The parking slots are issued on a monthly fee basis. These include slots for private cars, taxis, and 3.5-tonne pickups trucks. The slots cannot be registered as garages.
Each applicant has the option to apply for slots from three different areas. The City Council said out of the 211 slots, 25 percent has been allocated for taxis registered in Male'. The monthly parking fee for private cars is MVR 1,000 at this time but will be increased to MVR 1,500 when the COVID-19 situation improves. Taxis will need to pay MVR 750 for their slot.
Under efforts to increase their revenue, the City Council recently tried to lease land for long term such that private parties can park their vehicle in the area. However, the Transport Ministry and the Local Government Authority blocked the move.
