Minister announces three changes to PM’s fuel relief scheme

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja on Saturday announced three changes to the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme to make it easier for motorcycle, rickshaw and Qingqi users to benefit from the scheme.

Speaking at a media briefing, the minister said that motorcycles registered from January 1, 2006, would now qualify for the scheme. Previously, only motorcycles registered from 2011 onwards were eligible. She said that the change was made after citizens and journalists raised concerns about the exclusion of older motorcycles.

The minister also announced changes to the fuel relief provided to two- and three-wheelers. The earlier five-litre limit linked to each token has been removed.

Under the new system, eligible motorcycle, Qingqi and rickshaw users can buy fuel according to their actual requirement. Each eligible user can receive four tokens every month, with each token providing a relief of Rs500.

“For instance, if two litres of petrol cost Rs780, the beneficiary will only have to pay Rs280 after using the Rs500 relief token,” Shaza Fatima explained.

The third change is the removal of SMS charges for all users of the scheme. “SMS is now free for everyone, whether they have an 800cc car or a motorcycle or three-wheeler,” she said.

Shaza Fatima said the changes were introduced to bring more people into the relief programme and remove problems being reported by beneficiaries.

She said more than 1.75 million people had registered for the scheme by 3pm, while about 1.5 million fuel relief tokens had been issued. More than 680,000 tokens, she added, had already been used at petrol stations.