Government proposes to collect $30 airport service charge

The government has proposed an amendment to the law to allow the collection of a US$30 (MVR 462.6) service charge from all foreigners exiting the country through airports.

The bill was proposed to the parliament by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed on behalf of the government. The bill on the collection of service charge from passengers exiting the through Maldives airports does not impose a service charge on local passangers.

The law currently levies a $12 (MVR 185.04) charge on all local, excepting children bellows 2 years of age, and an $18.5 (MVR 285.27) charge for all foreign passengers exiting though an airport. These charges were incorporated to the law following amendments proposed during President Mohamed Nasheed’s term of office.

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had imposed a $12 charge on all passengers starting from 1978.

The proposed $30 charge will be collected from four airports in the country: Ibrahim Nasir International Airpot (INIA), Gan International Airport, Hanimaadhoo International Airport and Gan International Airport, if the amendments are approved by the parliament.

A charge of $25 was collected from all passengers leaving Ibrahim Nasir International Airport when it was managed by the Indian company GMR. The practice was halted following a Supreme Court order against the collection of the charge, as the law stated that a maximum charge of $18.5 from foreign passengers, and a maximum charge of $12 from local passengers, maybe collected from the airport.