ISLAMABAD: The federal government has broadened the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme, allowing motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqi rickshaws up to 20 years old to benefit from the Rs100-per-litre petrol subsidy.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the immediate inclusion of vehicles registered from January 1, 2006, onwards, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Previously, the scheme was restricted to motorcycles and three-wheelers registered on or after January 1, 2011. The revised eligibility criteria will therefore bring a larger number of older vehicles into the relief programme.
Under the scheme, eligible registered users receive petrol at a discount of Rs100 per litre. The initiative was introduced following a sharp increase in petroleum prices amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
The government has also begun clearing payments to petrol stations under the programme. The Petroleum Pump Owners Association said Rs12.2 million had been disbursed to 868 petrol pumps against claims submitted for September 16, with the claimed amounts cleared.
The digital mechanism for delivering the subsidy is now operational, while real-time monitoring has been introduced to track the distribution of subsidised petrol.
Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima said around one million people had registered for the scheme so far.
The scheme has been rolled out nationwide after its initial launch in Islamabad, with the government using an SMS-based registration and token system to facilitate beneficiaries.
Weekly inflation impact
The expansion comes as higher petroleum prices continue to feed into inflationary pressures.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, weekly inflation rose 0.49 percent during the week ended September 17, while the year-on-year increase stood at 10.64 percent.
Among the monitored commodities, diesel recorded the largest weekly increase at 7.29 percent, followed by petrol at 6.40 percent and LPG at 3.26 percent.
The latest figures came after the government raised the price of petrol by Rs4.10 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs6.41 per litre with effect from September 16.
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