$100 for fireworks permit, $450 fine for offence

A fireworks display. - File photo

APPLYING for a fireworks permit will cost $100, while committing an offence under the Summary Offences (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act No. 13 of 2025) will incur a $450 fine.

The Summary Offences (Fireworks) Regulations, 2025 details the procedures for applying for fireworks permits, the granting of fireworks permits and the issuing of fixed penalty notices (or tickets) for fireworks offences. The Summary Offences (Fixed Penalty) Order, 2025 (Legal Notice No 467 of 2025) prescribe a $450 fine for fireworks offences.

As of December 19, 2025, it became a fixed penalty (or ticketable offence) to discharge fireworks without a permit issued by the Commissioner of Police, except on a public holiday from 8-9 pm and on December 31 between 11.30 pm and 12.30 am of the next day.

It also became an offence to discharge fireworks within a half mile radius of a public hospital. a private hospital, an airport, a zoo, a registered animal shelter, a farm where animals are reared, a forest reserve or a national park. Private hospitals include nursing homes and homes for the elderly.

The regulations say the application fee for a fireworks permit is $100. People who want to get a fireworks licence must submit an application to the commissioner of police using the approved form on the Police Service website. The permit would not be transferable. Up to the morning of December 21, this form was not found on the website. Before refusing an application for a fireworks permit, the commissioner of police must give the applicant notice of his reasons and at least 14 days to submit written representation.

They said applicants must be 18 years of age or a corporate body; satisfactory arrangements must be made with a suitably trained pyrotechnician; and suitable arrangements must be made for an emergency medical technician to be present during the discharge of the fireworks.

The regulations said the applicant must be able to comply with the act, the regulations and terms and conditions of the permit, including the safety measures specified, and the requirement to give 14 days prior notice to the fire service, the Environmental Management Authority, Civil Aviation Authority and the municipal corporation responsible for the municipality in which the fireworks are to be discharged.

Before the current amendment, anyone who discharged a firework on a street outside a town or in a place within 60 feet of the centre of a street could be fined $400. Anyone who discharged fireworks in a town outside the previous regulations could be fined $1,000.