6 Gas-Saving Myths

1. Fill Your Tank in the Morning
2. Change Your Air Filter
3. Use Premium Fuel
4. Pump Up Your Tires
5. To A/C or Not A/C
6. Bolt-Ons and Pour-Ins

Read the details from: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/artic...3nfrLTu1iJO7sMF

Fuel subsidy revamp on the cards

The rising costs of fuel have put more pressure on the Government to come up with a fair and efficient solution to ease the burden of the rakyat and relieve the strain on its coffers.

ALL eyes are on the Government's struggle to find a more equitable and efficient solution to the prickly issue of fuel subsidies.

This year's fuel subsidy is expected to hit a whopping RM45bil – even higher than the annual allocation of RM40bil under the Ninth Malaysia Plan – based on oil prices of between US$100 and US$120 a barrel.

Of the total, subsidies for petrol, diesel and natural gas will be RM18bil, tax foregone RM7bil and the national oil company's gas subsidy RM20mil.

Oil price is currently trading above US$120 per barrel. Goldman Sachs recently predicted that oil prices could hit US$200 a barrel within two years.

The Government is said to be looking at two-tier pricing for petrol and diesel, with subsidies going to deserving consumers especially those in the lower-income groups and priority industries/sectors such as public transportation and agriculture/fishery.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad has been pretty vocal on the issue as evidenced by the many news reports on the various proposals that are being considered.

These include replacing the current grades of petroleum with two new grades, RON 95 and RON 99, whereby the latter grade targeted at high-end vehicles would not be subsidised as much as the former, the use of the MyKad and even the introduction of a new card for more efficient subsidy allocation in fuel purchase.

To show that the Government means business, Shahrir has announced that a decision on new diesel prices could be out as early as next month followed by a revamp of the petrol subsidy scheme. The news is welcomed by those who view the current subsidy scheme as an inefficient way to allocate resources but received with apprehension by the public as many see it as adding to their financial burden.

“From the way things are going, it looks like a restructuring of fuel subsidies is inevitable. It is just a matter of time,” an industry expert said.

He reckoned that the unsubsidised market price of petrol should be about RM3.10 per litre and diesel at RM2.70 per litre.

With the current spiral in food prices, inflation and slowdown in the global economy, many feel the time may not be right for any reduction in fuel subsidy as the rakyat, especially the lower-income group would suffer.

This makes it even more imperative for the Government to come up with a solution that will benefit all involved if a restructuring of fuel subsidies takes place.

An economist believes a revamp of the fuel subsidy scheme may not be such a bad thing if the Government is able to implement a system that is:-

·efficient by ensuring that the subsidies are targeted at the right group of people namely the lower-income groups;

·equitable in that the quantum will not result in additional burden for the people especially the targeted groups;


able to curb/reduce leakages;
practical and consumer friendly and
secure, easy to implement and manage

“The Government has been under more pressure over the fuel subsidy issue recently as rising costs have eroded the people's income and its own funds.

“This has also opened many people's eyes to the abuses the current scheme is subjected to resulting in a waste of resources,” the economist said.

The bone of contention is the fact that the blanket subsidy scheme currently benefits everyone in the same quantum – even those who are extremely rich.

According to an article in China Press quoting sources from the Road Transport Department, there are 30 rich men in the country who own 100 to 700 cars each for collection purposes. About 78,000 drivers each have five cars, while 1,589 drivers possess 10 cars each.

“It does not look like these people need fuel subsidies or any subsidies for that matter but they are still benefiting from the current scheme,” the economist said.

The current scheme also encourages wastage and leakages in the form of foreigners such as Singaporeans and Thais buying fuel at subsidised prices as well as smuggling of the commodity by unscrupulous traders.

An example of leakages in the scheme is the diesel subsidy for local fishermen.

Data from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry showed that the rise in the sale of diesel to local fishermen did not commensurate with the volume of fish caught thus indicating the existence of smuggling activities.

In addition, the Anti-Corruption Agency is currently probing a suspected misuse of subsidised diesel for fishermen which amount to 18 million litres per month in Sabah.

“The leakages will be more widespread the larger the difference between the market and subsidised prices,” the economist said.

Nevertheless, a hue and cry is to be expected whatever the outcome.

As an industry observer puts it: “In this case it is impossible to please everyone. The Government will need to strike the right balance on this complicated issue.”

Perhaps the restructuring of the fuel subsidy scheme could then be followed by a long-term plan to reduce the country's dependence on oil.

Malaysian Institute of Economic Research executive director Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ariff Abdul Kareem stressed the urgency of looking for alternative sources of energy and technology that would help reduce fuel consumption.

“It is also important to liberalise trade and break down any monopolies that can drive up prices,” he said.

URL: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...68&sec=business

ePetrol solution for fuel subsidy

USING the MyKad at the petrol kiosk could become a reality soon if ePetrol Holdings Sdn Bhd's fuel subsidy management solution is used to revamp the country's fuel subsidy scheme.

ePetrol Holdings, established in 2003, is led by a team of industry experts and leaders from the oil and gas, payment, banking and smart-card industries.

Executive vice-president Jeff Perera said the ePetrol system – with debit, credit or prepaid payment services – would enable the MyKad to be used to pay for fuel purchases at petrol stations nationwide.

“There is no necessity to carry another card to enjoy any fuel subsidy as all Malaysians carry a MyKad with identification and payment capabilities,” he told StarBiz at the World Congress on Information Technology 2008 (WCIT) in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Perera said the ePetrol fuel subsidy management module was an integrated and centralised purchasing and payment system between consumers, oil companies, banks and the Government.

“The platform has the capability and flexibility to accept any set of rules to effectively monitor, manage and control fuel subsidies down to the individual consumer level,” he said.

The benefits of the system include:

·Automatically identifying consumers entitled to fuel subsidies;

·Managing the amount of subsidies to be allocated to each consumer;

·Controlling the frequency of the subsidy to be provided – weekly, monthly and so forth; and

·Managing how the subsidy is provided (in a lump sum or as a percentage of the purchase).

The ePetrol system, which was showcased by the Multimedia Development Corp and National Registration Department at the WCIT, garnered much attention from the public.

Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was said to be suitably impressed when shown a short demonstration of the system by ePetrol Holdings' owners, RHB Group founder Tan Sri Rashid Hussain and Dialog Group Bhd chairman and group managing director Ngau Boon Keat, when he visited the booth.

Perera said the system would enable the Government to lift price controls and let market forces determine the pump price of fuel and still be able to selectively provide fuel subsidy benefits only to deserving consumers.

As the scheme benefited only MyKad-holders, subsidies for non-Malaysians and cross-border fuel smuggling would also be reduced, he added.

“This can result in potential savings of billions of ringgit per annum, which can be channelled toward generating greater economic growth and development,” he said.

In fact, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad was quoted in a recent report that subsidised fuel in the future could be available only to Malaysians carrying their microchip-based national identity cards.

Moreover, Perera said, multinational oil companies had endorsed the system as technologically compatible with their retail station information technology systems; thus no additional substantial capital investment would be necessary.

“The ePetrol system is now available and ready to go. It can be deployed countrywide to consumers as they already carry a MyKad.

“We will undertake all technology, infrastructure and development investments. Therefore, no Government funding is needed,” he said.

The subsidy management scheme could also be extended to other controlled items such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, cooking oil, rice, flour and sugar.

An industry expert pointed out that the restructuring of the fuel subsidy system must be done to improve the social economic welfare of the rakyat.

“That should be its main aim; otherwise it defeats the purpose. The ePetrol system looks like a practical and efficient system, but whether it will work to expectations is left to be seen.

“If the ePetrol system is chosen, the onus is on the Government to come up with a great set of criteria that ensures the right group of people get the right amount of subsidies as well as plug leakages and wastage,” he said.

He added that the ePetrol system would also help boost the usage of the MyKad, deemed a half-a-billion ringgit white elephant as it has not lived up to its potential in terms of multi-purpose usage.

Besides the MyKad solution, the Government is said to be considering a proposal to replace the existing octane ratings of petrol – research octane number (RON) 92 and 97 – with RON 95 and 99.

The Government would then allocate most of the subsidy into the RON 95 used by the lower to medium-income groups while those with high-performance and luxury cars can opt for the more expensive and less-subsidised RON99 fuel.

Another proposal is the fleet card approach which involves issuing authorised cards for vehicle owners from lower income groups.

Eligible citizens who hold the fleet card can fill their vehicles with subsidised fuel. Higher-income citizens would pay rates that more closely reflect market prices.

URL: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...56&sec=business

How ePetrol system works

THE user will need to register and activate his MyKad at a registration kiosk to be eligible for the fuel subsidy.

At the same time, the user can link the MyKad to his bank account so payment can be debited from the account each time a fuel purchase is made. Otherwise, payment can be made via credit card or cash.

The MyKad supports biometric validation, for example, photo and thumbprint identification, and can be PIN-enabled for secure transactions.

The user then inserts his MyKad into the petrol pump reader which reads the MyKad and provides information on the total amount of fuel subsidy the user is entitled to as well as how many litres of each type of fuel the user can pump on the screen.

The user pumps the amount of fuel needed.

Once the transaction is completed, the total price of the fuel purchased, subsidy allocated, subsidy balance and amount payable is automatically calculated and printed on a receipt at the pump.

The fuel subsidy balance is stated on the receipt after each transaction so that the user is aware of the value remaining after each transaction.

ePetrol Holdings Sdn Bhd executive vice-president Jeff Perera said even if the MyKad was borrowed by another user, the borrower would only be able to pump subsidised petrol up to the limit the MyKad owner was eligible for.

“This leakage is small even if anyone is generous enough to share his or her subsidy,” he said.

In the event of MyKad theft or loss, Perera said the owner would need to make a report to ePetrol and his MyKad would be immediately de-linked from the ePetrol system.

URL: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...35&sec=business

Larangan jual minyak Jumaat ini

Semua stesen minyak di sempadan negara dilarang menjual petrol dan diesel kepada kenderaan asing berkuatkuasa Jumaat ini.

Menteri perdagangan dalam negeri dan hal ehwal pengguna, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad berkata larangan itu membabitkan stesen minyak dalam jarak 30 hingga 50km di kawasan sempadan negara.

Larangan itu membabitkan Perlis, Kedah, utara Perak, Kelantan dan Johor termasuk di Kulai dan Johor Bahru, katanya seperti laporan Bernama.

Beliau memberitahu media di lobi Parlimen selepas menghadiri mesyuarat jawatankuasa menangani inflasi hari ini yang dipengerusikan timbalan perdana menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Arahan bertulis mengenai larangan tersebut mengikut Akta Kawalan Bekalan 1961 akan dikeluarkan kepada pengusaha stesen minyak terbabit dalam masa terdekat.

Beliau menambah, larangan itu akan berkuatkuasa sehingga kementerian menentukan sistem pengurusan subsidi yang lebih sesuai.

Sabit kesalahan, pengusaha stesen boleh didenda sehingga RM250,000 atau tiga tahun penjara atau kedua-duanya, manakala individu pula dihukum RM100,000.

Banyak kenderaan dari negara jiran datang membeli diesel dan petrol di stesen minyak di Malaysia selama ini.

URL: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/83467