Fuel relief scheme revision: 5-litre limit per token abolished, SMS charges scrapped

Islamabad: The government recently announced significant changes to the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme, aimed at supporting beneficiaries, particularly those who use motorcycles, rickshaws, and Qingqi vehicles. During a media briefing, Minister for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja revealed that the Rs500 per-token limit for two- and three-wheelers has been abolished.

Eligible users can now receive four tokens per month, with each token providing a relief amount of Rs500. For instance, if two litres of petrol cost Rs780, the beneficiary would only need to pay Rs280 after applying the Rs500 relief token. Additionally, the government has abolished SMS charges across the scheme, making SMS free for all users, irrespective of their vehicle type.

As of Saturday, over 1.75 million registrations had been completed under the scheme, and around 1.5 million tokens had been generated. Moreover, the National Steering Committee on Fuel Subsidy, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, approved the redemption of fuel tokens via SMS for stations in areas without internet connectivity.

The committee requested Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the provinces to provide lists of such stations to integrate them into the scheme promptly. Registration for the Fuel Relief Scheme continues nationwide through SMS to 9771, with participation from the ministers of petroleum, economic affairs, information and IT & telecommunications, the deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the chairman of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, the provinces, the Pakistan Digital Authority, the petroleum secretary, the ICT chief commissioner, the additional chief secretaries of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and senior officials from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Balochistan.