31,000 Consumers Denied Petrol Subsidy
Thousands of petrol consumers have been denied the petrol subsidy announced last month for motorcycle, rickshaw and small car owners, after tokens expired, fuel stations refused service, or registration records failed to match. A high-level meeting reviewed the problems and ordered audits of fuel stations where few consumers redeemed the relief.
Sources told The Express Tribune that officials informed the meeting that 31,000 consumers had been denied the subsidy. The meeting examined why the relief failed to reach them and agreed on a set of corrective steps for the coming days.
Why 31,000 consumers missed the petrol subsidy
The meeting was told that 10,344 tokens had expired. The minister for information technology said a survey message went to about 31,000 citizens whose tokens had expired, offering four reasons for non-redemption. Of these, 11,000 cited lack of time, while work continued with the Petroleum Dealers Association on the expired tokens.
The chair observed that refusal at fuel stations and technical failure should be read together, since a citizen often learnt about a system fault from station staff. The information technology ministry will now send a follow-up message to about 13,000 citizens who cited refusal or a technical fault, encouraging them to visit a station again and rebook. A brief complaint sheet will also be prepared.
The 9771 helpline received 3,000 calls, of which around 400 were resolved at the first level. Punjab accounted for 1,700 calls and Sindh for 618. Around 972 complaints related to registration matters, 414 to province mismatch, 72 to incomplete registration and 250 to duplicate registration attempts, which required verification.
Refusal levels varied by region. Punjab reported negligible refusal because of continuous field inspection, Sindh reported below one per cent and Gilgit-Baltistan reported none. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported that of 200 complainants contacted directly, four cited refusal, with each case traced to a temporary internet outage. The chair cautioned against relying on helpline statistics alone, since citizens sometimes left a station without lodging a complaint.
Stations below 50 redemptions face audit
The meeting noted four million redemptions across about 8,000 stations, giving a national average of nearly 500 per station. It set a benchmark of 50 redemptions, below which a station must be audited. Deputy commissioners can now download city-wise station lists from the dashboard.
Provincial and district administrations will audit every station recording fewer than 50 redemptions, monitor the highest-volume stations in each city and deploy additional devices where queues were found. They will also publicise the requirement to lodge a complaint in the event of refusal. The information technology ministry will circulate city-wise station lists to public affairs units for station-by-station feedback on refusal of service.
The minister of state for finance said visits to 40 to 45 stations revealed that both citizens and station staff mistakenly believed a motorcycle must be registered in the applicant’s name. He noted that inter-city stations mainly served motorcycles, while highway stations catered to long-haul traffic. Qingqi drivers with valid documents were also encountering system errors.
The information technology ministry will correct the mistaken belief through public messaging and report within two days the proportion of registered motorcyclists whose identity cards match the vehicle title. Assistant commissioners will compile lists of Qingqi rickshaw drivers holding valid identity and excise documents to facilitate their registration.
How the petrol subsidy scheme works
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the scheme on September 13, offering Rs100 per litre relief to motorcycle, rickshaw, Qingqi and small car owners. Motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqis can claim relief on up to 20 litres a month, while cars with engines up to 800cc can claim it on up to 30 litres a month.
Consumers register once by sending an SMS to 9771 with their identity card number, vehicle number, province code and registration date. Before each fill-up, they send TOK to 9771 to receive a token, which they show at the petrol station to claim the discount.
The audit ordered this week matters because the relief was designed for households hit hardest by fuel costs. If tokens keep expiring or stations keep turning consumers away, the subsidy will miss the riders and drivers it was meant to help, even as petrol prices move every fortnight.
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