KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): Malaysia plans to introduce a new rule to allow legal action against purchasers of subsidised RON95 petrol for foreign-registered vehicles from April, the Dewan Rakyat was told on Wednesday. 

At the moment, the law only allows action against petrol station operators, not the vehicle owners or purchasers, which has made it harder to prevent subsidy abuse.

Under the proposed regulation, enforcement action and legal penalties may be imposed on both parties — petrol station operators as well as owners or users of foreign-registered vehicles found purchasing subsidised RON95, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali told the Dewan Rakyat during an oral question-and-answer session on Wednesday.

The regulation will be introduced under Section 6 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961, and is targeted to be finalised and enforced from April 1 this year, he added.

Malaysia lowered the price of the widely-used RON95 petrol for citizens in September last year, while non-citizens and foreign-registered vehicles are not eligible to purchase it, as the country shifts from blanket subsidies to a targeted subsidy system.

Nevertheless, several lawmakers have raised concerns over ongoing petrol leakages, particularly by foreign-registered vehicles in border areas.

In response, Armizan said the ministry will use data analytics of RON95 and diesel sales at border fuel stations to track repeated purchases made with MyKads.

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