BUDI95: No Issues Reported, Monitoring To Continue - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- No issues have been reported so far in the rollout of the BUDI MADANI RON95 (BUDI95) initiative involving police and military personnel, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

He said the government is monitoring the initial phase of the subsidy, which began at midnight, before it is extended to recipients of the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) aid tomorrow, and subsequently to all Malaysians on Sept 30.

“So far, the Finance Ministry (MOF) has not reported any problems. In fact, some social media users shared as early as 12.01 am their experience of buying RON95 at RM1.99 per litre.

“Today it involves police and military personnel, tomorrow over five million STR recipients and on Sept 30, the general public. We will continue monitoring,” he told reporters after officiating the Malaysia Jompact! Grand Launch at the Malay Language Teacher Education Institute (IPG) here today.

About 300,000 armed forces and police personnel became the first group to enjoy the subsidised petrol at RM1.99 per litre, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 22.

STR recipients from the B40 group will benefit on Sept 28, followed by 16 million Malaysians aged 16 and above with MyKad and a valid driving licence on Sept 30.

Fahmi added that the government is ready to make technical adjustments if needed, particularly regarding system capacity to ensure smooth transactions.

“As the Prime Minister mentioned last Friday, the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) system capacity is only 3,000 transactions per minute compared to Touch ‘n Go and Touch ‘n Go Digital, which can handle more than 30,000 transactions per minute. That’s a big difference within a day.

“So we will monitor today and tomorrow, and if necessary make adjustments, especially in terms of server bandwidth, so that we are prepared by Sept 30,” he said.

In a separate matter, Fahmi said allocation requests from ministries under Budget 2026 will be determined by the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister, with details to be revealed during the tabling on Oct 10.

On the Malaysia Jompact! programme, he said the initiative, organised by WWF-Malaysia in partnership with Yayasan Hasanah, seeks to nurture a generation of teachers who are more mindful of efforts to curb single-use plastic consumption.

He added that the programme is vital to cultivating ecological awareness among future teachers, who will in turn guide schoolchildren towards adopting a lifestyle that minimises single-use plastics.

-- BERNAMA