The List BML Never Published: 501 Merchants, Seven Fee Bands, Zero Public Notice

On 30 June 2025, the Bank of Maldives told the public that a new transaction fee of up to 30 percent would apply to purchases on six international e-commerce platforms, Temu, Shein, Alibaba, AliExpress, Lazada and eBay. The bank was explicit that the fee would not apply to international flight tickets, hotel bookings or subscriptions. Yesterday, when questioned about fees being applied beyond those six platforms, BML's spokesperson called such claims "completely baseless and false."

A leaked document confirmed as accurate by a source with direct knowledge contradicts both assurances entirely.

What the Leaked List Reveals

The document, circulated on X by an anonymous account and verified as accurate by a Viraasee source, is titled "BML Merchant List Feb 2026." It contains 501 merchants spread across seven fee bands, 30 percent, 15 percent, 10 percent, 6 percent, 5 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent. None of these additions were announced publicly. According to the document, merchants have been added to this list month by month since June 2025, with Maldivians left to discover the charges through unexplained deductions on their bank statements.

Hospitals and Medical Centres Charged at 30 Percent

The 30 percent band includes Subang Jaya Medical Centre, Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute, Amrita Institute, Centre for Kidney Diseases, Kids Clinic India and My Pharmacy, institutions that Maldivians routinely rely on for specialist medical care unavailable at home. None of these were named in BML's original announcement. None were mentioned in BML's statement yesterday, which described claims about healthcare fees as "entirely unfounded."

The list also reveals a striking contrast. Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, widely known as the preferred hospital of senior government officials and members of parliament is placed in the 3 percent fee band. No public criteria explain why one international hospital is charged at 30 percent while another is charged at 3 percent.

Universities at 30 Percent

The British Council, the University of Nottingham's Malaysia campus, Taylor's University Malaysia and Epsom College Malaysia all appear in the 30 percent band. BML's June 2025 announcement made no reference to educational institutions. Its statement yesterday described allegations about education fees as false. The verified list shows otherwise.

Airlines: A Direct Contradiction of BML's Own Policy

BML's June 2025 announcement explicitly exempted international flight tickets from the new fee. The leaked list places Air India and US-Bangla Airlines in the 30 percent band. AirAsia, Emirates, SriLankan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, FlyDubai, Malindo Airways, Air Arabia and IndiGo Airlines all appear in the 4 percent band. Travel platforms BravoFly, Kiwi.com, TripAdvisor and Klook are in the 30 percent band. This directly contradicts what BML publicly promised when the policy was introduced.

Entries That Raise Targeted Concern

Two entries on the list stand apart from the rest. A US-registered business named BUDDIES COMMERCIAL LLC appears in the 30 percent band with a Maldivian phone number embedded in its merchant name, suggesting an individually identified entry rather than a category-based decision. Separately, Aitken Spence Travels, a Sri Lankan travel agency linked to Mohamed Firaaq, a vocal critic of the ruling People's National Congress, is the only merchanton the entire 501-entry list placed in the 15 percent band, a rate that appears for no other merchant. 

BML's Statement Versus the Verified Facts

Yesterday's official statement from BML spokesperson Mohamed Saeed called social media allegations "completely baseless and false," defended the 30 percent fee as standard banking practice and made no reference to the existence of additional fee bands, the 501-merchant list or the expansion of the fee regime beyond the six platforms announced in June 2025. The statement also contained no response to the demand that BML publish a full list of merchants subject to fees. As of publication, no such list has been made public by the bank.

Who Knew and Who Did Not

According to the information accompanying the leaked document, access to the full merchant list and its fee rates has been selectively shared with People's National Congress members and associates of BML's senior leadership, while ordinary customers were kept uninformed. The document states that BML CEO Shareef directly intervenes to determine which merchants are added to the list, which are removed and which customers are placed on a high-value list for whom charges are quietly waived. Viraasee has asked BML to respond to each of these specific claims.

The Regulator's Silence

The Maldives Monetary Authority, as the statutory regulator of the banking sector, has issued no public statement on the matter. When BML imposed merchant restrictions in 2020, the bank confirmed it had notified the MMA before doing so. Whether the MMA was informed of the expanded fee list, which has reportedly been growing since June 2025, is not publicly known. The government, as BML's largest shareholder, has also remained silent.