With 2 weeks to rollout, dealers still in the dark about fuel subsidies

Petrol dealers say they have not been briefed about the upcoming targeted fuel subsidy system, which is set to be implemented in July.

Petrol Dealers' Association Malaysia president Khairul Annuar Abdul Aziz told Free Malaysia Today that they remain unaware of the workings of the system, which is aimed at motorists from lower-income brackets.

"We are in the dark. We do not know how it will be implemented and neither has anyone briefed us.

“We are nervous because some drivers may be eligible and some may not for the subsidy," he was quoted as saying.

Khairul also expressed his concern that if there are issues with the implementation of the targeted subsidies, motorists may take out their anger on dealers.

Putrajaya announced last year that a 30 sen per litre subsidy will be rolled out to those in the B40 income group who own cars and motorcycles with engine capacities under 1,500cc and 125cc respectively.

RM2 billion has been allocated for the targeted subsidy – to replace the current blanket subsidy – which is set for implementation on July 1.

'No pilot projects?'

According to Khairul, however, dealers do not know if any pilot projects or trial runs have been carried out by the government on this "mega-scale" targeted fuel subsidy.

He added that dealers would prefer it if the subsidy was paid directly into consumers' bank accounts.

This, Khairul said, is because dealers do not know how long it would take to be reimbursed for the subsidised prices.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that data was still being collected for the system.

In May, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the government was in the final stages of identifying a viable system for the targeted subsidy.

The government had initially proposed the usage of discount cards or coupons. However, Saifuddin later said that a direct payment to the consumers’ bank accounts would be a more practical solution.