The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) will stop issuing garage permits for motor vehicles with more than two wheels starting Thursday.
In an announcement on Wednesday, HDC said vehicle owners will no longer be required to submit a garage permit. Instead, they must obtain permission to use the garage space allocated within their building.
The Transport Ministry had earlier announced that garage permits would not be required from next month, prompting public confusion over whether garages themselves were still necessary. The ministry later clarified that vehicles must still have a registered garage space, but the administrative process has been simplified.
Previously, applicants were required to submit several documents, including:  
Permission from Male' City Council or HDC to use the building as a garage  
A vehicle garaging permit issued by Male' City Council or HDC  
A no‑objection letter from the garage owner and a copy of the owner’s ID  
Vehicles parked at the Velana International Airport on August 11, 2021. (Sun Photo/Fayaz Moosa)
These documents will no longer need to be submitted from Thursday onward. The ministry said the change was introduced to eliminate the need for duplicate applications for the same service.
Before garage registration became mandatory in 2009, ownership of vehicles without a registered garage could not be transferred. With the new changes, vehicles in the Male' zone can now change ownership without submitting additional garage documents. However, the ministry will continue inspecting garages to ensure the owner has no objections.
Parking shortages remain a major concern in Male' and Hulhumale', where the number of vehicles far exceeds road capacity. Four‑wheelers occupy both sides of many streets, and residents continue to complain about the lack of parking space and delays in constructing new parking buildings. Many vehicle owners also face high costs, often hundreds of thousands of rufiyaa, to secure a garage or obtain a garage permit.