MOF approves Budi Individu cash assistance

KUALA LUMPUR: The Finance Ministry has approved Budi Individu cash assistance for 115,000 of the 300,000 eligible individual diesel vehicle owners as of Monday, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.

“Although data from the Road Transport Department (JPJ) shows that there are 1.2 million private diesel vehicle owners nationwide, the figure includes various categories that are not eligible for assistance.

“Of the 1.2 million private diesel vehicles, 300,000 are company-owned; 330,000 are in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan; 150,000 have expired road tax; and 60,000 are luxury vehicles or owned by individuals who exceed the income requirements,” he said during the oral question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Bernama reported

Amir Hamzah was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Abdul Khalib Abdullah (PN-Rompin), who wanted to know why only 100,000, or 10%, of the 1.2 million diesel vehicle owners nationwide received the Budi Madani assistance and the efforts being made to ensure that no one is left out.

Launched on May 28, the Budi Madani initiative provides a platform to distribute diesel subsidy cash assistance to diesel vehicle owners under the Budi Individu category and to small-scale farmers and smallholders under the Budi Agri-Komoditi category.

In addition to Budi Individu, nearly 400,000 small-scale farmers and smallholders are eligible for the Budi Agri-Komodi benefit.