The taxi service application used by the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has been hacked, resulting in the leak of personal information.
The breach is believed to have occurred late last night. The individual or group responsible for the hack also altered the names of several drivers within the system.
Data leaked on social media following the breach includes the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of registered users, as well as wallet IDs, customer messages, and trip histories.
Users reported service disruptions during the night; however, the application is currently functional.
MTCC’s taxi application has been mired in controversy since the service's inception.
The issue first came to light when it was revealed that the development of the application was awarded without a competitive bidding process to a business named Fixed Maldives for MVR 13 million—a firm lacking experience in software development.
Amidst the controversy, the Fixed Maldives application was launched alongside the taxi service on April 2 of this year. However, security flaws led to a major data leak on the very first night of operations.
Following that incident, use of the application was suspended, and MTCC provided taxi services free of charge for two weeks. When charging resumed, payments were processed through a web portal after booking via a hotline.
It took two months after the initial launch for MTCC to resume services via a mobile app on June 2. It is understood that the version currently in use was developed internally by MTCC’s own IT department.
MTCC has not issued an official statement. However, when previously questioned by Adhadhu, MTCC Managing Director Ahmed Saudhee maintained that no wrongdoing had occurred.
Despite Saudhee’s assertions, evidence has surfaced suggesting serious irregularities in the awarding of the contract to Fixed Maldives. Relevant government authorities appear to have shown little interest in investigating the matter.
