- Govt extends fuel scheme eligibility to older motorcycles.
- Authorities abolish five-litre petrol limit per relief token.
- SMS charges scrapped for all fuel scheme beneficiaries.
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima on Saturday announced three major changes in the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme to facilitate beneficiaries, particularly motorcycle, rickshaw and Qingqi users.
Addressing a media briefing, the minister said the eligibility of the scheme had been extended to motorcycles registered from January 1, 2006, instead of the previous 2011 cut-off.
She said the decision was taken in response to feedback received from citizens and journalists regarding the eligibility of older motorcycles.
Fatima said the Rs500-per-token limit for two- and three-wheelers had also been revised.
Under the revised mechanism, the previous five-litre limit per token had been abolished, allowing eligible motorcycle, Qingqi and rickshaw users to purchase fuel according to their requirements.
She said eligible two- and three-wheeler users could obtain four tokens per month, with each token carrying a relief amount of Rs500.
“For example, if two litres of petrol cost Rs780, the beneficiary would pay Rs280 after applying the Rs500 relief token,” she explained.
The minister said the third major change was the abolition of SMS charges across the board under the scheme.
“SMS has been made free for everyone, whether they own an 800cc vehicle or a two or three-wheeler,” she said.
She said the measures were aimed at ensuring that more people could benefit from the relief scheme and that difficulties faced by citizens were being addressed continuously.
According to Fatima, more than 1.75 million registrations had been completed under the scheme by 3pm while around 1.5 million tokens had been generated.
She said more than 680,000 tokens had already been redeemed at petrol stations.
The minister said the government was closely monitoring registration and token redemption figures, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was personally following the implementation of the scheme.
She said a steering committee headed by the Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and an implementation committee were working with relevant ministries, departments, OGRA, the State Bank of Pakistan and other institutions to resolve implementation-related issues.
Fatima said a 24-hour control room had also been established at the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication to receive and address complaints.
She urged citizens to remain vigilant against fraudsters, stressing that the government had imposed no charges for registration, SMS or issuance of tokens.
“No one should pay anyone for registration, tokens or information about the scheme,” she said, advising citizens not to share their CNIC numbers, vehicle registration details or other personal information with unauthorised persons.
She said beneficiaries facing problems at petrol stations or during registration could lodge complaints by calling 9771.
Petrol station operators using the token-validation application could also report technical or other problems through the same helpline, she added.
The minister said district and provincial administrations were supporting implementation of the scheme, while banners and information about the registration process had been displayed at petrol stations.
Explaining the registration procedure, Fatima said applicants had to send an SMS to 9771 containing their CNIC number, vehicle registration number, province code and vehicle registration date.
She said the vehicle registration number should be entered without spaces.
The registration date had been included as an additional verification measure to prevent unauthorised registration of vehicles, she added.
The minister clarified that ownership of a motorcycle, Qingqi or rickshaw was not mandatory if the user had the relevant vehicle documents and custody.
She said eligible motorcycle, Qingqi and rickshaw users could send “TOK” to 9771 once a week to obtain their fuel relief token, while eligible car users could obtain tokens according to the prescribed schedule.
She also emphasised that the entire registration and complaint process had been kept on ordinary SMS to ensure that people without smartphones or internet access could also benefit from the scheme.
To a question, Fatima said the government was continuously reviewing public feedback and would make further improvements where necessary to make the scheme easier and more accessible for citizens.
