JOHOR BARU: Petrol stations here are closely monitoring foreign-registered vehicles, including those owned by Malaysians, as the Budi Madani RON95 (Budi95) initiative takes full effect today.
Cashier Syafiqah Rahmat, 25, said petrol stations had been inundated with queries on Budi95 for the past few days, especially from Malaysians driving Singapore-registered vehicles.
“Only those driving Malaysian-registered vehicles are allowed to use RON95, regardless of their nationality. That has been the case for years.
“Most want to know if that is still the case with Budi95, or if they can now use RON95 with their Singapore-registered cars since they are eligible for the initiative.
“We told them there is no change to the regulation. They understand,” she said when met at a petrol station here yesterday.
She said foreigners have not asked about Budi95 because most of the customers are regulars who are well aware that RON95 is only for locals.
“Still, we are keeping a watchful eye (to ensure that foreigners are not benefitting from the RON95 subsidy),” she said, adding that two staff members are stationed to monitor vehicles refuelling there.
A cashier at another petrol station, Satria Sulaiman, 32, said that while they did not expect foreigners to attempt using the subsidised fuel, they are not taking any chances.
“Since we are located at the border, we have always been more alert, as we have dozens of Singapore-registered vehicles refuelling here.
“This is not new to us. So, there are no plans to increase manpower for now, as long as there are no issues with the system.
“So far, everything has been running smoothly. We just had one or two customers who were Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) recipients but did not renew their licence and could not get the subsidised fuel,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Malaysian retiree driving a Singapore-registered car, who only wanted to be known as Tan, said he was used to using RON97.
“This is my son’s car, and I know that I cannot use RON95 when I’m driving it, even if I’m a Malaysian.
“It is not an issue for me, but I still asked the staff member here just to be sure, and they confirmed that I cannot get RON95 when driving this car, even if I am eligible for Budi95,” he said.
Malaysia imposed a ban on the sale of RON95 petrol to foreign-registered vehicles effective Aug 1, 2010, to ensure that the petrol subsidy only benefits Malaysians.
On Sept 22, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that under the Budi95 initiative, Malaysian citizens with an active driving licence, regardless of their income, can purchase RON95 petrol at the subsidised rate of RM1.99 per litre compared with the market price of RM2.05.
