SHAH ALAM: The government is drawing up measures to ensure the Budi Madani RON95 (Budi 95) subsidy programme is not subject to abuse.
These could include preventing someone from refuelling after a short time or imposing daily limits, says Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
The Finance Minister II said it would be impractical if the government implements a measure that was too strict just to plug leakages.
"We are aware that there are risks of leakages, but if we were to 'lock' down every possible risk to the point where it is overly restricted, it could become impractical and burdensome," he told a media briefing here.
At this stage, he said, the government was still evaluating the best approach.
"One possible option is to implement limits, for example, preventing someone from refuelling every 10 minutes.
Amir Hamzah (left) and Johan.
"This would prevent a person from staying at a petrol station and repeatedly scan their IC on behalf of others," he said.
Another option, he said, might be to set a daily cap on the maximum amount of subsidised fuel an individual can purchase.
"These are ideas we're still fine-tuning, and any measures will only be introduced once we’re confident that they won’t create unnecessary difficulties for the public.
"For now, the main focus is ensuring that fuel companies are ready to implement and support the operational aspects of what we’re planning," he said.
Meanwhile, Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican said that lost or stolen MyKad cannot be used as a part of a verification tool for the Budi95 programme.
"As you know, our MyKad is a legal document which all Malaysians have to carry.
"If you lose a Mykad, one needs to make a police report and then the National Registration Department (JPN) has its own process once a Mykad is reported as stolen.
"They will effectively take that Mykad off from the system and of course the individual will need to apply for a new one.
"And as you know, there's certain charges if you've lost it more than certain times and stuff like that.
"I think those are the details and you can also then check on the JPN website as well," he said.
Meanwhile, Amir Hamzah explained that Malaysians will be able to refuel with three simple steps namely, verifying their MyKad, making payment and refuelling.
A one time activation will be required to use the MyKad for the subsidy purpose.
He said those pumping fuel could verify their MyKad at petrol pumps and at the counter at petrol stations, whereby terminals to read MyKad are available.
It can also be done via certain e-wallet applications and the application of petrol companies.
"The steps are simple, we did not introduce anything complicated,” he said.
"The 300 litres will be set monthly, reflecting the monthly eligibility,” he added
He explained the government arrived at the decision to subsidise 300 litres a month based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Amir Hamzah said at 300 litres a month, 99% of the targeted population will qualify.
"So, if we set the cut-off at, uh, 140 liters per month, that means 90% of Malaysians would qualify.
"But the government said..it is okay, we want more people to benefit.
"So we raised the cut-off to 180 liters, and now 95% of Malaysians would qualify. Then the government said, we want to ensure the majority of people benefit,” he said.
"So now the cut-off we're using is one that covers 99% of the population, using a qualification level of 300 liters per month,” he added.
On a separate matter, Amir Hamzah said that RON95’s subsidised price of RM1.99 per litre will be in place "for a while,”.
"We will hang on to it for a while. But it all depends on the circumstances,” he said.
