ISLAMABAD: Around 31,000 consumers have faced difficulties redeeming subsidies under the government’s petrol relief scheme, prompting authorities to address technical glitches, expired tokens and complaints of service refusal at fuel stations.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The scheme was introduced last month to provide relief to motorcycle, rickshaw and small-car owners amid elevated international oil prices. However, implementation issues have raised concerns about whether eligible consumers are receiving the intended benefits.
According to sources, the matter was discussed at a high-level meeting, where officials reported that 10,344 subsidy tokens had expired. The minister for petroleum sought an update on removing the token expiry issue, while the minister for information technology and telecommunications said a survey message had been sent to approximately 31,000 citizens whose tokens had expired, seeking reasons for non-redemption.
Around 11,000 respondents cited a lack of time, while authorities continued consultations with the Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) regarding expired tokens. The meeting also highlighted cases involving refusal of service at fuel stations and technical failures, noting that the two issues could be interconnected as consumers often learned of system problems from station staff.
The meeting emphasised that the IT ministry should send follow-up messages to approximately 13,000 citizens who reported service refusal or technical faults, encouraging them to revisit fuel stations and rebook their subsidies. Officials were also directed to prepare a brief complaint report.
The IT minister informed the meeting that the 9771 helpline had received around 3,000 calls, of which approximately 400 were resolved at the first level. Punjab accounted for 1,700 calls, while Sindh recorded 618. About 972 complaints concerned registration issues, 414 related to provincial mismatches, 72 involved incomplete registration and 250 concerned duplicate registration attempts requiring verification.
Provincial reports showed varying levels of service refusal. Punjab reported negligible cases following continuous field inspections, Sindh reported a refusal rate below 1%, while no cases were reported in Gilgit-Baltistan. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, officials directly contacted 200 complainants, four of whom reported refusal of service due to temporary internet outages.
The meeting chairperson cautioned that helpline data alone might not provide a complete picture, as some consumers could leave fuel stations without formally lodging complaints.
Officials were informed that approximately four million subsidy redemptions had taken place across nearly 8,000 fuel stations, averaging around 500 transactions per station nationwide. The meeting established a benchmark of fewer than 50 redemptions for triggering an audit of a station. The petroleum minister said deputy commissioners could now download city-wise lists of fuel stations through the relevant dashboard.
The minister of state for finance said visits to 40–45 fuel stations had revealed widespread misconceptions among consumers and station staff, particularly the belief that motorcycles must be registered in the applicant’s name to qualify for the subsidy. He also noted that inter-city stations primarily served motorcyclists, whereas highway stations catered mainly to long-distance travellers. Qingqi rickshaw drivers with valid documentation were also experiencing registration errors.
The meeting decided that provincial and district administrations would audit all stations recording fewer than 50 redemptions and monitor the highest-volume stations in each city. Additional devices would be deployed at stations experiencing queues, while provincial administrations would raise public awareness about the need to lodge complaints when service was refused.
The IT ministry was directed to share city-wise station lists with public affairs units to obtain station-by-station feedback on service refusals. It would also seek detailed information from the call centre about incomplete registrations and brief the relevant committee on the findings. Remaining complaint logs would be shared with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa authorities to enable direct contact with affected consumers.
Authorities would also launch a public information campaign to correct the misconception that a motorcycle must be registered in the applicant’s name. The ministry was asked to report within two days the proportion of registered motorcyclists whose identity cards matched the vehicle ownership records.
Additionally, assistant commissioners would compile lists of Qingqi rickshaw drivers possessing valid identity cards and excise documentation to facilitate their registration under the subsidy scheme.
Story by Zafar Bhutta
