SANDAKAN: The implementation of the Budi Madani RON95 (BUDI95) fuel subsidy programme will help reduce national expenditure as RON95 subsidies will no longer be enjoyed by foreigners.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said more than 4,000 petrol stations nationwide are involved in the initiative, with Petronas as the main operator.
He said the programme was first introduced to police and military personnel as a way of testing the system’s implementation.
“I came here to see for myself how police personnel make RON95 transactions at this Petronas station,” he told reporters after inspecting the launch of BUDI95 at Petronas Jalan Bokara, here, Saturday.
Some 300,000 police and armed forces personnel are benefitting from the scheme, which Saifuddin described as a “stress test” to assess the capacity of servers, petrol stations and the system overall.
Also present were Home Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Awang Alik Jeman, Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa, Sabah Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rani and Petronas Dagangan Chief Operating Officer Azureen Azita Abdullah.
Police personnel in Sandakan are among the first to receive the subsidy, alongside members of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) nationwide, ahead of its wider rollout to recipients of the Rahmah Cash Aid (STR) and MyKad holders with valid driving licences.
On the MyKad requirement, Saifuddin said the Home Ministry, through the National Registration Department (NRD), is acting as enabler as MyKad plays a key role in verifying citizenship for subsidy eligibility.
“One of the challenges we expect is damaged MyKad chips, which many owners may not even realise,” he said, noting that previously petrol could be purchased without MyKad verification.
Before the announcement, an average of 1,000 faulty MyKads were replaced daily, or about 30,000 a month and 360,000 annually.
“Out of 24 million MyKad holders, this is a significant figure,” he said.
If a MyKad cannot be read at a petrol station, users may enter their identification number manually.
“But the best step is to replace the MyKad chip directly at JPN,” Saifuddin said.