State-owned oil-and-gas giant Pertamina will expand vehicle registration for its MyPertamina fuel app to cover more cities and regencies in East Java and Bali the company seeks to ensure subsidized-fuel distribution is not abused.

Pertamina-subsidiary Pertamina Patra Niaga West Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara region said 39 cities and regencies in the region will be included in the expansion: 30 in East Java and nine in Bali.

Deden Mochammad Idhani, Pertamina Patra Niaga regional spokesperson, called on eligible residents to immediately register their vehicles on Thursday.

Starting in July, Pertamina has required customers register their vehicles on its website to buy subsidized gasoline or diesel, but Pertamina is yet to bar unregistered customers from purchasing subsidized fuel, saying it would wait for the government’s cue and that the public needed to be familiarized with the measure first.

On July 1, the company began opening registration for customers in 11 cities and regencies in five provinces: namely, West Sumatra, South Kalimantan, West Java, North Sulawesi and Yogyakarta.

By mid-July, registration had been opened in Madiun, Mojokerto and Malang, East Java; Badung regency in Bali; Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara; and North Timor Tengah, East Nusa Tenggara.

By the end of January, East Java will have seen registration opened in Banyuwangi, Bojonegoro, Jombang, Lamongan, Madiun, Malang, Pacitan, Ponorogo, Sidoarjo, Situbondo, Tuban, Gresik, Bangkalan, Pamekasan, Sampang, Sumenep, Blitar, Nganjuk, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Magetan, Ngawi, Trenggalek, Tulungagung regencies, and Batu, Malang, Surabaya, Blitar, Pasuruan and Probolinggo municipalities.

In Bali, the expansion will cover Badung, Bangli, Gianyar, Tabanan, Buleleng, Jembrana, Karangasem and Klungkung regencies, and Denpasar city.

Pertamina will use the vehicle data to determine whether a customer is eligible for purchasing subsidized gasoline or diesel and possibly for further analysis in accordance with regulatory needs. 

The policy will affect customers of Pertalite, Pertamina’s subsidized RON-90 fuel, as well as its diesel-fuel Solar. 

The government has decided to raise subsidy spending so as to keep fuel prices low amid soaring international-oil prices amid geopolitical uncertainty, which was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

However, noneligible customers have been benefiting the most from the subsidy. Pertamina said around 80 percent of subsidized fuel was consumed by the better-off 60 percent of Indonesians.

Upon registering their vehicles, customers will receive a QR code that can be displayed in the MyPertamina app or printed out to be scanned by gas-station attendants for the company to keep track of customers’ fuel purchases. (dre)

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post)

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