The government has said before that the Budi Madani RON 95 (Budi95) programme could save Malaysia between RM2.5 billion and RM4 billion a year by subsidising petrol only for Malaysians with a MyKad and a valid driving licence, and not for foreigners and the commercial sector.
While the commercial sector runs largely on diesel – subsidised under the Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS) 2.0 – one does wonder exactly how many non-Malaysians (who would have a reason to buy petrol) are being excluded.
Well, transport minister Anthony Loke said in a press conference today that based on road transport department (JPJ) records, 878,279 foreign nationals, including over 18,000 permanent residents, currently hold Malaysian driving licences, according to a Malay Mail report.
“This group will not be eligible for the fuel subsidies. That means previously our government had been providing subsidies to almost 900,000 foreigners. From this, we will save billions of ringgit every year,” he said, adding that about 0.88% of the nearly 17 million eligible Malaysians may face issues accessing the subsidy because their licence details have not been updated with their current MyKad information.
The three main groups affected are licence holders who registered using old identity documents (such as pre-MyKad ICs or birth certificates), Armed Forces or police driving licence holders who have yet to convert to a Competent Driving Licence (CDL), and those with discrepancies or errors in their IC numbers.
“To resolve this, JPJ has opened special counters at all its offices nationwide for Malaysians in these categories to update their details. They need to come in person as a thumbprint is required,” Loke said, adding that no fees will be charged for the update. Read the finance ministry’s Budi95 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) here.
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