Effective today, an MVR 2 fee will be levied on every plastic bag given to a customer at any point of sale of businesses.

This plastic bag fee is a fee collected under the Waste Management Act by businesses operated in the Maldives on plastic bags provided free of charge or sold at the point of sale.

Plastic bags exempt from this fee:

-plastic bags sold or provided free of charge by duty-free shops.

-plastic bags used to carry unpackaged deep sea fish, reef fish, bait fish, or fish used as bait, sea food and parts of such fish

-"bin liners" sold or supplied free of charge specifically for hte purpose of waste disposal by either a person who provides waste management services or another relevnt authority.

This fee will be collected from 00:00 hours onwards tonight and the collected fee by GST registered businesses must be paid to MIRA.