Ministry: Vehicle garage permit unnecessary, but garage still a must

While vehicle owners will no longer be required to submit vehicle garage permits issued by the Male’ City Council or the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) when registering vehicles with three wheels or more starting January, having a garage to keep the vehicles is still a must, says the Transport Ministry.

On Monday, the Transport Ministry announced changes to the verification process when registering vehicles, including dropping the requirement for a vehicle garage permit.

This created some confusion, with many believing this means the abolishment of the garage requirement altogether.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Transport Ministry clarified that a garage space is still necessary for registration of vehicles.

The Ministry said they were merely relaxing the administrative process in order to improve public convenience.

Vehicle owners are currently required to submit three documents related to garage space when filing for registration. They are:

• A permit issued by the Male’ City Council or HDC on the utilization of a building as a garage
• A vehicle garage permit issued by the Male’ City Council or HDC
• A consent letter from and official ID papers on the garage owner

But a vehicle garage permit will no longer be required starting January 1.

The Transport Ministry said they made this change to ease the inconvenience of having to submit two different applications for the same service, as well as to address the complaints by some vehicle owners who are unable to transfer ownership and owners of vehicles purchase before a garage was mandated in 2009.

The Transport Ministry said that despite the changes, they will check garages and verify consent of garage owners.

Congestion is a serious issue in Male’, home to tens of thousands of people.

The number of vehicles in the city far exceeds the urban carrying capacity of the existing road and parking infrastructure, leading to severe congestion and other related issues.