The lower court on Monday ordered Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) to pay over MVR 160 million to Centre Enterprises for failing to pay the cost of a tug boat MPL had commissioned the latter to build.
MPL had commissioned Centre Enterprises to build the boat in November 2008. The Civil Court’s verdict reads that the final amount of MVR 160 million includes the project’s original price of MVR 13 million along with penalties and other fees for failing to settle the payment for over three years past the deadline.
In the verdict read by Judge Mohamed Haleem, it orders MPL to pay MVR 160 million within six months. Of the total amount, MVR 138.9 million accounts for the period MPL failed to settle the payment while the remaining MVR 13 million was the price of the work commissioned, MVR 6.3 million was the surcharge fee and MVR 800,000 is to be paid as Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The court verdict further disclosed that the penalty for the duration of unpaid payment actually amounted to USD 277 million. However, following the practices of other countries, the court had reduced the amount to half with MVR 138 million.
The reason for the hefty penalty is the two percent of the invoice charged by Centre Enterprises for every day past the deadline. The company had originally sought MVR 293 million as penalty.
MPL had abruptly halted work on the tug boat commissioned at Centre Enterprises, saying that the order had come from the Anti-Corruption Commission.
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