Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima on Saturday announced three important updates to the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Scheme. These changes aim to make the programme more helpful for motorcycle, rickshaw and Qingqi users across the country. The first major update extends eligibility to older motorcycles. Vehicles registered from January 1, 2006, can now join the scheme. Earlier the cut-off year was 2011. This decision came after feedback from citizens and journalists about older bikes being left out. The second change removes the previous five-litre petrol limit per token. Eligible two and three-wheeler users can now buy as much fuel as they need using their relief tokens. Each token still gives Rs500 relief, and users can get four tokens every month. For example, if two litres of petrol cost Rs780, the beneficiary pays only Rs280 after using the token. The third update ends all SMS charges under the scheme. Sending messages is now completely free for every registered user, whether they own a small car or a two-wheeler. By 3pm on the day of the announcement, more than 1.75 million people had registered. Around 1.5 million tokens had been generated and over 680,000 tokens had already been used at petrol stations. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is personally monitoring the progress. A steering committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and an implementation committee are working with OGRA, the State Bank and other departments to solve any issues quickly. A 24-hour control room is active at the Ministry of IT to handle complaints. Citizens can call 9771 for help. The minister strongly advised people to stay alert against fraudsters. No one should pay any fee for registration, tokens or information. Personal details like CNIC or vehicle numbers should never be shared with unauthorised persons. To register, applicants simply send an SMS to 9771 with their CNIC number, vehicle registration number without spaces, province code and registration date. Once registered, motorcycle and rickshaw users can send “TOK” to the same number once a week to receive their token. The entire process works on ordinary SMS so that people without smartphones can also benefit easily. These steps show the government’s continuous effort to improve the Fuel Relief Scheme and ease the burden on daily transport users.
