Fuel subsidy plan on hold
saifuddin: Programme has to be explained to malaysians first
With a day to go before the New Year, the government has announced that it is delaying the implementation of the targeted fuel subsidy programme (PSP) until further notice, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The delay, he added, was to better explain the programme to Malaysians.
The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister said the decision to delay the PSP from being implemented nationwide starting next January was made during a Cabinet meeting on Dec 18.
“The Cabinet meeting on Dec 18 decided that the implementation of the PSP, which was scheduled to begin on January 2020, will not go ahead until further notice,” he said.
Saifuddin said the postponement was to allow for more sessions to be conducted to explain the subsidy and to better prepare Malaysians to accept the PSP.
He added that the registration process of recipients under the M40 group would be conducted by the Finance Ministry.
“While waiting for the confirmation of the PSP implementation to be announced, the people can continue to enjoy current petrol prices based on the present system,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The RM2.2bil PSP, which was expected to benefit more than eight million motorists from the low-income B40 and middle-income M40 groups, was announced by the Pakatan Harapan government on Oct 8.
Under the PSP, individuals who own not more than two cars and two motorcycles are eligible to receive PSP for one vehicle.
The qualifying criteria is for passenger cars with 1,600cc engine and below, or 1,600cc and above if they are more than 10 years old.
For motorcycles, it must be 150cc and below; if it is over 150cc, it must be at least seven years old.
No luxury vehicles are qualified to receive the targeted subsidies.
For eligible recipients of Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH), the petrol subsidy receivable will be RM30 per month for car owners and RM12 per month for motorcycle owners.