Bus travel made free as Male’ blackout affects ticketing system

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has announced that people can use public buses free of charge, as the massive power outage affecting the Maldivian capital on Sunday disrupted the company’s ticketing system.

The Raajje Transport Link (RTL) bus and ferry services are both operated by the MTCC.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, MTCC announced that the power outage has disrupted the ticketing system used for bus and ferries.

MTCC said that public transport services will continue uninterrupted despite the issue with the ticketing system.

“You can travel on buses free of charge until a ticketing arrangement is set up,” said the company.

ކަސްޓަމަރުންގެ ސަމާލުކަމަށް! pic.twitter.com/uOpCxRAgeM

— MTCC Plc (@MTCCPlc) June 1, 2025

Power went out in the greater Male’ area, including Male' City, Hulhumale' and Hulhule', at around 12:35 pm Sunday.

Sun has been informed that the current power outage resulted from the generators in Male’ City got overloaded due to an issue at the Hulhumale’ powerhouse.

However, this has not been confirmed by State Electric Company (STELCO), which attributed the blackout to a “technical issue”, but did not elaborate.

The power outage is now the subject of a special investigation by the police, after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage, instructed relevant authorities to investigate the blackout as a serious issue.

“The government will do everything necessary to ascertain uninterrupted electricity services and ensure this does not repeat,” he said in a post on X.

STELCO has said that it is working on restoring power as soon as possible.