Fee for public collections by NGOs to be waived

A €40 fee that voluntary organisations have to pay to conduct public collection activities or operate charity shops will be waived, the 

Office for the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (OCVO) said.

This decision was taken to assist voluntary organisations in their activities, the OCVO said in a statement on Monday.

All organisations that have already paid this fee will be reimbursed.

Voluntary organisations and charity shops that use charity cans will still have to pay a €1 fee for each can. This will be reimbursed once the cans are returned to the OCVO.

A separate administrative fee will still have to be paid for the issuing of tags to administrators. This fee is non-refundable as the tags cannot be reused.

These fees were introduced as part of two new pieces of legislation regulating public collections and charity shops.

In a separate statement, the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) said that it will be drawing up a detailed report on these new laws, and will put it forward to legislators for further consideration and action.

Voluntary organisations can send recommendations on the legislation in writing to the MCVS by no later than 9 April.