President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has announced plans to establish a 24-hour Citizen Complaints Bureau at the President’s Office, with services expected to commence within the next five months.

During the Presidential Address, President Dr Muizzu said the Bureau will operate through a fully digitalised system, receiving complaints through multiple channels including letters, email, online portals, messaging platforms, telephone calls and social media, with cases to be referred to relevant State institutions for follow-up.

The new Bureau will be supported by a digital system incorporating artificial intelligence to manage, monitor and track complaints more efficiently. The initiative forms part of wider efforts to modernise public service delivery and improve responsiveness across Government agencies.

Providing an update on the Administration’s digitisation agenda, the President said improving service efficiency and building a modern system of digital governance remain among the Government’s priorities for this year. He said these reforms are being guided by good governance principles and are intended to strengthen institutional reliability and service delivery for both citizens and public servants.

The President further highlighted progress under the Maldives 2.0 programme launched in May 2025, which focuses on strengthening cybersecurity, enabling secure digital transactions through internationally compliant digital identity systems, facilitating secure data sharing across institutions, and establishing a national data exchange framework. He said the Government will, over the next three years, work towards building a digitally skilled generation, establishing a sovereign cloud for secure data storage and archiving, and delivering citizen-focused public services through a single integrated digital platform.

Additionally, he stated that a national digital transformation roadmap has been approved by the Cabinet, and that legislative proposals including the Digital Transformation Bill, Digital Identity Bill and Cybersecurity Bill will be submitted to Parliament during the current session. The President also announced plans to establish a comprehensive civil registration network by the end of the year and to upgrade the national citizenship card to a smart card.

Addressing governance reforms, the President said digitised systems are central to efforts to reduce corruption, noting that legislative amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act, the Asset Recovery Bill and the Criminal Procedure Code are being prepared for submission to Parliament. He also expressed confidence that proposed amendments to criminalise illicit enrichment under the Penal Code, together with changes to the Evidence Act currently under parliamentary review, would strengthen the legal framework for tackling corruption. The President said action would be taken against any individual found to be involved in corruption or misuse of public resources, if credible evidence is presented.