Licence to fill: Malaysia’s new fuel subsidy scheme limits access to national ID holders

Name: Malaysia’s Anwar slams US tariffs, calls for stronger inter-Asean trade
Uploaded: 2025-09-30T07:12:53.000Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: Malaysia’s Anwar slams US tariffs, calls for stronger inter-Asean trade

It replaces the previous blanket subsidy that was open to anybody at the pump and limits citizens to 300 litres of discount petrol per month

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A man enters a Petronas petrol station in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has launched a new targeted fuel subsidy scheme limiting discounted purchases to 300 litres a month. Photo: Getty Images

Hadi Azmi

Published: 3:12pm, 30 Sep 2025

Malaysia has rolled out a targeted fuel subsidy scheme that limits each citizen to 300 litres of discounted petrol per month, replacing a decades-old blanket subsidy that had become a political flashpoint and a fiscal drain.

The new measure, launched on Tuesday, marks a significant policy shift by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, which hopes it will curb rampant fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries, misuse by foreigners and excessive consumption by wealthy Malaysians with gas-guzzling cars – long-standing problems blamed for squandering taxpayer funds.

Under the previous blanket system, any vehicle arriving at a pump could access the subsidised price, regardless of the driver’s identity. That scheme cost nearly 20 billion ringgit (US$4.7 billion) annually, or about 8 per cent of total government spending. Much of that was used on petrol priced at just 2.05 ringgit (US$0.49) per litre.

The new scheme allows Malaysians to purchase subsidised petrol at 1.99 ringgit per litre, but only if they hold a valid national identity card, known as MyKad, and a current driving licence – a requirement designed to ensure that only genuine citizens benefit.

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Malaysia’s Anwar slams US tariffs, calls for stronger inter-Asean trade

Across Kuala Lumpur, motorists swiped their ID cards at petrol pumps as attendants helped familiarise them with the new system.

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