The Malaysian government is mulling the addition of a mechanism that would allow individuals who are not the owner of the diesel vehicle they are driving to access the Budi Diesel subsidy – enabling B10 diesel to be purchased at RM2.10 per litre from July 1 onwards – for the said vehicle, according to Astro Awani.
Minister of finance II Amir Hamzah Azizan said that the proposal was the result of public feedback, following concerns that users of vehicles registered to a spouse or family member would not be able to access the subsidy. He added that one of the mechanisms being evaluated was an “approved person” that would allow the actual user of the car to receive the subsidy.
“We received feedback like this during an engagement session in Kota Kinabalu yesterday and are now evaluating a suitable mechanism. We are looking to see if the subsidy quota can be transferred to an individual that has been approved to use it,” said Amir Hamzah at a media session on Wednesday.
The minister stressed, however, that the government needed to ensure that any improvements to the targeted subsidy programme did not affect its main principle – that one car only receives one subsidy quota. This, he said, was important in preventing leakages or abuse of the subsidy, such as a vehicle being allowed to receive multiple quotas through being driven by different individuals.
Amir Hamzah added that the government will continue evaluating any feedback received after the implementation of Budi Diesel on July 1 before deciding on any changes to the existing mechanism.
The provision of an “approved person” was deemed necessary due to the allocation of 100 additional litres of quota for pick-up truck and SUV/4×4 (jip) owners who apply for the increased subsidy. The extra litres would be tied to the owner, even if they are not the one actually driving the vehicle.
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