Pres: ‘Working day and night’ to address online transaction challenges

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has assured that non-stop efforts are underway to address the challenges faced by the public when conducting online transactions.

During the "Rayyithunge Adu" program, a citizen raised concerns over the inability to make purchases from popular e-commerce platforms such as Temu. The individual noted that resolving the issue would earn the President considerable public approval.

In response, the President reaffirmed his commitment to finding a solution, stressing that efforts were underway “day and night” to address the challenges.

"We are working on this day and night. God willing, we will provide a solution," the President said.

The remarks come amid growing public frustration over restrictions affecting online shopping platforms.

The Bank of Maldives (BML) first introduced daily transaction limits for purchases from websites such as Temu last May. At the time, the bank attributed the restrictions to demand for US dollars exceeding the available supply.

Subsequently, in September, a monthly cap of USD 16 million was introduced for e-commerce transactions. Under this arrangement, platforms such as Temu fall within a category allocated a monthly limit of USD 3 million. BML's daily transaction limits for each category reset at 7:00am every day. The bank advised customers that if a category or merchant reaches its daily limit, they can either attempt the transaction again the following day or use a dedicated US dollar card, if available.