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Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Malaysia plans 20-litre cap on fuel sales to foreign cars
Motorists travelling to Malaysia will soon be allowed to pump a maximum of only 20 litres of fuel within a 50km radius from the country’s borders, including in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian government announced yesterday.
Malaysia plans 20-litre cap on fuel sales to foreign cars
By LEE U-WEN 10 December 2009
(SINGAPORE) Motorists travelling to Malaysia will soon be allowed to pump a maximum of only 20 litres of fuel within a 50km radius from the country’s borders, including in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian government announced yesterday.
This move will help prevent the rampant smuggling of Malaysian fuel, which is highly subsidised, said Domestic, Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Affairs Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Parliament.
He also said that vehicles with more than 20 litres of fuel in their tanks would also not be allowed to cross the border, although it was not immediately clear how this would affect Singapore cars that still have to abide by the three-quarter tank rule when entering Malaysia.
While he did not provide a fixed start date for the order to limit fuel sales to foreign cars - only saying that the directive would be implemented ‘soon’ - Mr. Ismail said that his ministry’s officers were already issuing a circular to petrol stations that fall within that particular radius.
‘This measure is to curb increasing cases of fuel smuggling, as the prices for fuel are subsidised and cheaper compared to prices set by neighbouring countries such as in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia,’ he said.
‘This will help curb smuggling and we will take stern action against those found breaching this order,’ he told reporters in Parliament, adding that petrol dealers selling fuel above the 20-litre cap would also have their licences revoked.
The government has been receiving many complaints about petrol smuggling activities near the country’s borders to neighbouring Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
According to latest figures, Malaysia sells its RON 95 fuel at RM1.80 (S$0.74) per litre while Thailand sells at RM4.01, Singapore at RM4.31 and Indonesia at RM2.63 respectively.
This is not the first time that Malaysia has tried to curb the sale of its subsidised fuel to foreigners. Last year, for instance, the government announced that it would ban all petrol stations at the country’s borders from selling petrol and diesel to foreign-registered vehicles beginning in June last year.
There were also plans to have owners of such vehicles pay non-subsidised prices for petrol across Malaysia. However, the government did an about-turn and decided to raise the prices of petrol and diesel across the board instead in a bid to tackle soaring oil prices at that time.
Meanwhile, all eyes are now looking ahead to next May, when the government introduces a revised fuel subsidy system that will save Malaysia more than RM2 billion a year.
The lower-income groups would benefit the most, while there was a chance that the more well-to-do and tourists would not be eligible for the subsidy. The engine size of vehicles is another possible benchmark.
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Malaysia plans 20-litre cap on fuel sales to foreign cars
By LEE U-WEN
10 December 2009
(SINGAPORE) Motorists travelling to Malaysia will soon be allowed to pump a maximum of only 20 litres of fuel within a 50km radius from the country’s borders, including in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian government announced yesterday.
This move will help prevent the rampant smuggling of Malaysian fuel, which is highly subsidised, said Domestic, Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Affairs Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Parliament.
He also said that vehicles with more than 20 litres of fuel in their tanks would also not be allowed to cross the border, although it was not immediately clear how this would affect Singapore cars that still have to abide by the three-quarter tank rule when entering Malaysia.
While he did not provide a fixed start date for the order to limit fuel sales to foreign cars - only saying that the directive would be implemented ‘soon’ - Mr. Ismail said that his ministry’s officers were already issuing a circular to petrol stations that fall within that particular radius.
‘This measure is to curb increasing cases of fuel smuggling, as the prices for fuel are subsidised and cheaper compared to prices set by neighbouring countries such as in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia,’ he said.
‘This will help curb smuggling and we will take stern action against those found breaching this order,’ he told reporters in Parliament, adding that petrol dealers selling fuel above the 20-litre cap would also have their licences revoked.
The government has been receiving many complaints about petrol smuggling activities near the country’s borders to neighbouring Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
According to latest figures, Malaysia sells its RON 95 fuel at RM1.80 (S$0.74) per litre while Thailand sells at RM4.01, Singapore at RM4.31 and Indonesia at RM2.63 respectively.
This is not the first time that Malaysia has tried to curb the sale of its subsidised fuel to foreigners. Last year, for instance, the government announced that it would ban all petrol stations at the country’s borders from selling petrol and diesel to foreign-registered vehicles beginning in June last year.
There were also plans to have owners of such vehicles pay non-subsidised prices for petrol across Malaysia. However, the government did an about-turn and decided to raise the prices of petrol and diesel across the board instead in a bid to tackle soaring oil prices at that time.
Meanwhile, all eyes are now looking ahead to next May, when the government introduces a revised fuel subsidy system that will save Malaysia more than RM2 billion a year.
The lower-income groups would benefit the most, while there was a chance that the more well-to-do and tourists would not be eligible for the subsidy. The engine size of vehicles is another possible benchmark.
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