Amir said that even if Putrajaya allocated just 140 litres of subsidised RON95 a month, that would be sufficient for about 90% of citizens.

“But the government wants to cover more people, which is why it was set at 300 litres a month,” he told a press briefing here on the Budi Madani RON95 initiative.

The price of RON95 petrol will be lowered from RM2.05 to RM1.99 per litre for the public effective Sept 30 under the Budi Madani RON95 programme.

Citizens aged 16 and above with an active driving licence are eligible for the subsidised rate, with verification done via MyKad, the same mechanism used for the distribution of Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) aid.

Each Malaysian is entitled to 300 litres of subsidised RON95 petrol per month, although e-hailing services are exempted from this limit.

Under the new system, non-citizens and ineligible individuals will have to pay the unsubsidised market rate.

For verification, Amir said the MyKad will only need to be presented at the counter of petrol stations and inserted into a reader.

The device will then display the amount of RON95 one has left for the month.