KUALA LUMPUR: The government stands ready to consider applications for additional subsidised petrol quota under the BUDI MADANI RON95 initiative from farmers and traders who can prove their usage exceeds the current limit.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan confirmed that each individual currently qualifies for 300 litres monthly, which authorities consider sufficient for daily needs including electric generators and small machinery operation.
He acknowledged that any system implementation inevitably faces challenges and exceptions requiring flexible solutions.
Amir Hamzah cited the e-hailing sector example where participants can request higher quotas with company verification of their full-time status.
The government collects company data progressively to enable proper verification processes for such cases.
He stated that similar consideration would extend to traders or farmers whose applications receive proper confirmation mechanisms before approval.
The minister addressed media questions about special BUDI95 quotas during a briefing on RON95 subsidy rationalisation.
Amir Hamzah explained that the government would maintain usage records by identification card number for each transaction.
This system enables periodic checks to identify any potential misuse of the subsidised fuel programme.
Authorities will revoke additional quotas and revert consumers to the basic 300-litre monthly allocation upon detecting abuse.
Recent feedback highlighted concerns that the BUDI95 initiative might not fully address farmers’ realities involving extensive field work equipment.
Farmers typically use petrol for various agricultural tools including water pumps, grass cutters, seeding machines, and fertiliser and pesticide pumps.
The minister also clarified distinctions between the BUDI95 mechanism and the government’s Centralised Database system.
He described PADU as extensively used for data analysis, policy determination, and sensitivity studies across ministries and government agencies.
Amir Hamzah noted that PADU contains rich data increasingly demanded by agencies for analytical purposes.
The database supports government scenario analysis and establishment of specific policy cut-off points.
He emphasised that BUDI95 implementation doesn’t require complete PADU data due to its simpler qualification criteria.
BUDI MADANI criteria remain limited to Malaysian nationality and valid driving license possession.
PADU maintains vital importance as data validation improves, reducing potential errors in government policies. – Bernama