720 litres of subsidised petrol a month for taxis

Fuel-Wallet GaugeA total of 40,231 petrol-powered taxi owners in Malaysia will get a 78 sen subsidy on petrol, bringing it down to the original price of RM1.92 per litre for RON97 octane. This subsidy is limited to 720 litres per month, or a maximum of RM561.60. The subsidy will be controlled via a fleetcard system, similiar to the fleetcard used for subsidised diesel. This will cost the government RM271 million a year.

Datuk Shahrir also said that the savings from reduced subsidies for the government this year now amounts to only RM2 billion instead of the initially estimated RM4.4 billion as the price of crude oil has gone up.

In other public transport fuel-related news, the government will be pushing for buses to use CNG (compressed natural gas) instead of diesel. This will increase the consumption of CNG in this country, currently used by NGVs consisting of 94% taxis, 0.4% buses and 5.6% private vehicles. It won’t be a “dream fuel” forever as the price for CNG is also expected to go up in the future.

UPDATE: Taxi drivers have been asking for a minimum charge of RM3 instead of the current RM2 when a passenger gets into the cab, and are still persistent in requesting for the higher charges despite the new petrol subsidy. Malaysian Taxi Drivers and Owners Association secretary Hiew Pow Man says this is because the new subsidy doesn’t do much to help taxis as most run on NGV.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • Roti Naan (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 12:30 am

    from the given subsidised petrol, will there be any (slight) reduction in the taxi fare?

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  • arch747 (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 12:46 am

    Pakcik2 teksi, can we now have a better service please?? (long overdue)

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  • desmodeci (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 12:57 am

    “In other public transport fuel-related news, the government will be pushing for buses to use CNG (compressed natural gas) instead of diesel” – yeah right, paving another way for cronies to make money…

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  • mr_em (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 6:50 am

    wuuhuuu…. now pakcik2 teksi (the not so hardworking one) can do ‘side business” selling unused quota….. saya nak book.. saya nak book sikit… or can I apply for a taxi permit now?… not for doing business but to get my deserved subsidy or “incentives” (to put in a more positive words)…..

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  • azrai (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 7:31 am

    They will sell the petrol at 2.50 per litre. Believe me.

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  • Paul Tan on Jul 19, 2008 at 7:37 am

    Could be possible since Klang Valley taxis use NGV mostly.

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  • osh_kosh (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:02 am

    I believe G only give the ‘fleet’ card to those taxis using petrol….

    hmm… fisherman ‘export’ diesel, now taxi driver also can join the business… common-sense, if i’m a taxi driver & i do not use all of my subsidised petrol so why can’t i sell it? the market is there…

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  • BrakeFader (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:06 am

    I was expecting some new fuel incentives to ease the burden of the rakyat but they announce subsidy/incentives for taxi drivers instead.

    The rakyat would need to endure RM2.70 pricing until a change of government would happen.

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  • oscarsmh (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:14 am

    Shanrir say Petrol price subsidise to taxi?then taxi diver can earn a lot cause they’re not goin down on their fare,next time u see taxi driver wearing suits with tie & wearing Rolex in their proton taxi cause they earn more as now using NGV a lot.anyway this shanrir got no brain 1can’t be trusted,remember the petrol debate,kena snook by anwar many times.ask him go back to study primary school again la.

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  • Paul Tan on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:22 am

    the petrol debate is strawberry chick, not shahrir.

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  • kingbrutal (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:39 am

    the debate was between Anwar and Sabery… not Sharir.. get the fact right first. Btw, how much is the NGV cost? did it increased with the recent fuel hike? if not, why all the fuss from the taxi drivers? look to me that the association is taking advantage of the bad situation…

    outside of Klang Valley, yes… it would be a good argument for the taxi operator… but since the G willing to subsidize them… so no more reason to ask for fare increase.

    but if they start to sell this ‘gift’… well… that just show they are a modern day pirates.

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  • BrakeFader (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 8:55 am

    Just to add onto Taxi Drivers. The government is giving more candy to the drivers but how about the rakyat using it? Until now, the government still fails to thwart those cut throat taxi drivers who charge a bomb for short trips without using meters?

    The enforcement officers must be sleeping or couldn’t be bothered. Check out KL Sentral where the airport buses are parked and at Cineleisure damansara at night. The ride fair could nearly bring you to KLIA.

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  • rexis (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Well done… subsidize taxi pulak. Thanks for helping each of them earning RM500 more each month.

    How about the rest 99.9% of the population?

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  • maibatsu_thunder (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 9:28 am

    Why didn’t they announce this once and for all from the beginning? Was this planned for from the start or just added on?

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  • JULIANLEE2 (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 10:57 am

    malaysian taxi drivers always shark people

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  • armandd (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 11:07 am

    “Malaysian Taxi Drivers and Owners Association secretary Hiew Pow Man says this is because the new subsidy doesn’t do much to help taxis as most run on NGV.”
    _______________________________________________________________
    well, if they run on NGV? why give petrol subsidy? a lot of taxi drivers are sharks,
    boycott them and let them look for another job.

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  • osh_kosh (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 11:11 am

    bro maibatsu_thunder,

    that what puzzled me too… it seem like the drop the atom bom 1st… see how the ppl react… & made modification to ease down the anger… not well planned… it just show how weak this G is… i’m sure there’s more to come (modifications)..

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  • rajtheboss (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    Nowadays most of the taxis are using NGV, i dont see the reason why G wanna give subsidy for petrol, I think the G should give subsidy for taxi owners to install NGV kit in their taxis and allow all the petrol station nationwide to sell NGV to solve the problem.

    This will definitely ease the burden of taxi driver as well passenger

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  • ProtonSucks (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    To Malaysia G,

    You all are Fxxking STUPID. Do more research and thinking b4 execution. Most of the Taxi use NGV k idiots…….

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  • maibatsu_thunder (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    Is there a plan or not? Or the plan is to just try this and that?

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  • naz@proton (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    most of klang vally cab use ngv but outside cabbie still heavily depends on petrol, good move sharil… mayb sharil can debate vs KuLi about subsidy topics!

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  • oscarsmh (Member) on Jul 19, 2008 at 11:25 pm

    oops,my bad dunno shanrir or sabery or si perat,,lol,anyway still another stupid move by G,Reformasi la,this G useless already,time to change a new 1 and the cops too!

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  • Auto_crat (Member) on Jul 20, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    OMG, it will lead to an abuse. I have no problem against the honest cabbies. But there are surely lots of them who are unscrupulous. Say, didn’t they want an increase in the fare just now.

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  • 2 dogs (Member) on Jul 20, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    People like to bash taxi, esp G. Taxi problems exist as long as I can remember. Why?? Do u know now come to a stage where those don’t cheat cannot survive. Our taxi fares is amongst lowest in the world (even lower than China!). Those travel overseas know how much it cost to take taxis. Taxi suppose for the rich (& tourist), cannot afford can take bus or LRT lah. Developed countries afford to use Mercs & limos for taxis. G should use carrot & stick method. Raise the fares (a lot lot more) & come down hard on bad apples. Solve the damn problem once & for all!
    p/s: u know how long to wait to fill NGV, IF u can find the station??

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  • oscarsmh (Member) on Jul 21, 2008 at 3:55 am

    frm sunway to setapak rm30-40(20mins trip),in singapore ,frm woodland to changi airport SGD17(35mins trip),which one further?,which 1 ketok the most?

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  • raverus (Member) on Jul 21, 2008 at 9:11 am

    NGV la. fullstop.

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  • rajtheboss (Member) on Jul 21, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    Our Gov damn stupid, never study before implement any new plan, most of the taxis already using CNG, why need petrol subsidy ? Another way to waste taxpayers money.

    BN really sucks !!!!!!!!!!

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  • lchan (Member) on Jul 21, 2008 at 3:12 pm

    why subsidise?. allow the poor buggers to charge abit more la. How to feed the family like that? FFS.

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