Too early to review Budi diesel quota, ministry says system still stabilising

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By Amanda L

KUCHING, June 24: The government has maintained that the Budi diesel programme is still in its initial phase, stating that any review of the 200-litre monthly quota will be based strictly on data collected after sufficient operational use.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said it was premature to assess the adequacy of the quota given that the subsidy rationalisation mechanism was only recently implemented on July 1.

“Early feedback on the system must be viewed alongside actual usage trends, as similar concerns were raised when the Budi95 mechanism was first introduced.

“When we started Budi95, there were also claims that the quota was insufficient. But over time, we saw how the data developed and how usage patterns stabilised,” he said during a press conference following a briefing on diesel subsidy rationalisation held here today.

Amir revealed that preliminary data shows only 0.76 per cent of users exceeded the 200-litre monthly threshold between January and May this year, indicating that the vast majority of consumers fall well within the current allocation.

“As I have seen the data, only less than 0.76 per cent exceeded 200 litres. So we consider 200 litres to be sufficient at this stage,” he said.

While defending the current threshold, the minister stressed that the government remains open to system refinements should structural gaps be identified.

He noted that policy adjustments would be made based on real-world implementation, drawing parallels to previous tweaks made to the e-hailing subsidy mechanism.

“If there are gaps in the system, the government has no issue to look into improvements. We have done this before including for e-hailing where adjustments were made based on actual usage data,” he said, adding that a phased approach was vital to ensure system stability before major changes are introduced.

Addressing separate concerns regarding household vehicle sharing and discrepancies between vehicle ownership and user identity, Amir confirmed the government is actively studying solutions to accommodate these scenarios.

“We are getting feedback on cases where vehicles are used by family members and the IC does not match the registered owner. We are looking into whether an approved user mechanism can be introduced,” he added.

However, he cautioned that the underlying principle of the system remains strict to prevent exploitation and subsidy fragmentation.

“At the moment, one vehicle, one quota is the principle. We do not want a situation where one vehicle ends up with multiple entitlements,” he stressed.

The Finance Ministry reiterated that while it remains open to resolving operational issues as they arise, the immediate priority is to let the system generate sufficient data before any formal policy recalibration takes place. — DayakDaily

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