Amali Munif Rahmat, president of the Federation of School Bus Associations Malaysia, said some operators register their services with the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM), the local authorities, or the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

“For instance, orphanage organisations register with RoS, while school buses owned by cooperatives register with SKM,” he told FMT.

“In Peninsular Malaysia, some are not registered with SSM. In Sabah and Sarawak, they are registered with the local authorities.

“If school bus operators receive a subsidy of RM1.88 per litre while the pump price is RM2.30 per litre, operators not registered with SSM incur a loss of 42 sen per litre.”

Amali said the federation plans to submit a memorandum to the government on this issue next month.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the Cabinet has agreed on targeted diesel subsidies for Peninsular Malaysia.

He said 10 types of public transport vehicles and 23 types of goods transport vehicles will continue to enjoy diesel subsidies.

The 10 public transport vehicles are school buses, express buses, stage buses, feeder buses, minibuses, rental cars, taxis, hearses or vans, ambulances, and fire trucks.

Pan Malaysia Bus Operators Association president Ashfar Ali welcomed the announcement but said the government needs to increase the monthly diesel subsidy quota for express and stage buses.

Ashfar said the current quota of 1,440 litres for stage buses and 2,880 litres for express buses at RM1.88 per litre per month is insufficient, given that bus fares have not increased since 2008.

He suggested increasing the quota to 4,000 litres for stage buses and 6,000 litres for express buses at RM 1.50 per litre.

“The existing quota only lasts for 15 days and is inadequate in terms of price and quantity,” he said.

He also said a request for a quota increase has been submitted to the domestic trade and cost of living ministry as well as the transport ministry, but there has been no response yet.