Plastic bag fee revenue down by 35 percent

State revenue for plastic bag fees for last year have gone down by 35 percent.

As per the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority's (MIRA) statistics, the state received MVR 5.9 million in plastic bag fees last year. The year before that saw MVR 9.2 million.

A fee of MVR 2 for plastic bags was put into place on 18th April 2023.

When the amendment to the Waste Management Act began being acted upon, the fee for plastic bags after goods are bought from stores was implemented. The purpose of the fee was to reduce public plastic bag usage.

Once the fee was put into place, there was an increase in other materials being used instead of plastic bags in stores. And instead of it being free, the bags would be charged.

The highest recorded fee for plastic bags was seen in 2023, with MVR 12.6 million being seen.

When comparing 2023 to 2025, the revenue for plastic bags has fallen by 53 percent.

Even though the MVR 2 fee for plastic bags was implemented, MIRA stated that the only payment to them is by stores that charge GST.

As per the Act, stores that have not registered for other GST charges still have to implement the plastic bag fee. However, MIRA stated at the time that the responsibility of overseeing fees from said stores was not given to MIRA, nor was it raised by law. And so, the plastic bag fee revenue has fallen due to GST-registered stores simply seeing a decrease in plastic bag sales.