PM Shehbaz orders digitalisation of bike, rickshaw data for targeted fuel relief

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed provincial governments to provide all necessary facilities to motorcycle and rickshaw owners to register their vehicles in their own names, paving the way for a specialised Fuel Support Programme designed to shield low-income commuters from global oil price volatility. “This initiative would help digitise data of motorcycles and rickshaws across the country and enable their owners to benefit from government relief measures in the future,” PM Shehbaz said, chairing a high-level review meeting in Islamabad. He directed the authorities to approach the chief secretaries of all four provinces, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan in this regard. The prime minister further stated that the federal government has already diverted Rs 125 billion, achieved through rigorous austerity and cuts to the development budget, to subsidise petroleum products over the last three weeks. This fiscal intervention was specifically designed to prevent the direct impact of escalating regional tensions on the Pakistani public. While noting that Pakistan has avoided the long fuel queues and mismanagement seen in other countries, the PM urged the public to join the national fuel conservation drive. The citizens have been encouraged to avoid unnecessary travel. The use of teleconferencing for meetings at workplaces is being prioritised to reduce fuel consumption. Meanwhile, a new digital dashboard has been activated to monitor the entire petroleum supply chain, with April’s import plans already finalised. The meeting, held via video link, included Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and other senior cabinet members, all of whom reviewed the progress of these high-stakes economic measures.

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