Fuel relief scheme: 5.91 million registered, 4.79 million tokens used at pumps

Updated Saturday 26 September 2026. 5.91 million people are now registered for the Prime Minister's Fuel Relief Scheme, up from just over 5 million on Thursday. 6.18 million tokens have been generated and 4.79 million already redeemed at pumps, Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja said, which means about three in four tokens issued have been used. The five litre limit and the ownership condition for motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqis remain removed, including for riders using a rented vehicle.

Latest: 26 September

• Registered: 5.91 million citizens.
• Tokens: 6.18 million generated, 4.79 million redeemed.
• Rented bikes and rickshaws: the ownership requirement is waived, so a rider on a rented motorcycle or rickshaw can register.
• Where to register: SMS your CNIC and vehicle number to 9771, or use the scheme website, pmfuelrelief.pk.

Earlier: 24 September

More than 5 million people are now registered for the Rs 100 a litre fuel relief, up from 2.2 million on Sunday. The government is building an online complaints portal for registration and token-payment problems, run by the Pakistan Digital Authority, after rickshaw and loader owners reported being turned away. Until it opens, complaints go through the PAK app.

What changed on Thursday

• Registrations: over 5 million, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema told a meeting in Islamabad attended by the information, petroleum, IT and finance ministers and the provinces.
• New portal: the Pakistan Digital Authority will build and run a portal for vehicle-registration and token-payment complaints. No launch date was given beyond "as soon as possible".
• Rickshaws and loaders: the main problem is vehicles that are not registered with a provincial Excise department, so the 9771 system cannot match them. Cheema told officials to clear this so that eligible owners are not left out.
• Pump payments: most petrol stations have been paid for the tokens they honoured; the rest are due within one to two days. Unpaid pumps are the usual reason a station refuses a token.

If a pump refuses your token today

1. Note the pump name, city and time.
2. Open the PAK app, choose the fuel complaint option, and enter the pump and the problem. The Ministry of IT runs it, and you can track the complaint in the app.
3. If your rickshaw or loader has no Excise registration, you cannot register yet: wait for the portal fix rather than paying anyone who offers to "register" it for you.

Earlier: ownership rule dropped (20 September)

The government has dropped the ownership condition from the Special Fuel Relief Scheme for motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqis. If the vehicle is registered on or after 1 January 2006, the rider can claim the Rs 100 a litre discount whether or not the registration book is in their own name.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Sunday that 2.2 million people are now registered, 92pc of them motorcycle, Qingqi and rickshaw users, and that 1.9 million tokens have been issued. A single day this week saw 557,000 registrations.

What you get now

• Motorcycles, rickshaws, Qingqis: four tokens a month, Rs 500 off against one token a week, up to 20 litres a month.
• Cars up to 800cc: three tokens a month, 10 litres every 10 days, up to 30 litres a month.
• The discount: Rs 100 off every litre at the pump price of the day, which is on our petrol price page.

The five litre minimum per transaction is also gone. That rule had locked out the rider who puts Rs 200 of petrol in a bike at a time, which is most of the market. You can now draw less than five litres against a token.

What it is worth in rupees

A bike user who claims all four tokens saves Rs 2,000 a month. An 800cc car owner who claims all three saves Rs 3,000 a month. Over a year that is Rs 24,000 and Rs 36,000.

Put against a typical Mehran or Alto doing 12 km per litre and 1,000 km a month, the 30 litre cap covers about a third of the monthly fuel bill. Work out your own figure with our fuel cost calculator, and check today's pump price on the petrol price page.

How to register

Send your CNIC and vehicle registration number by SMS to 9771. The SMS charge has been waived, so the message is free on all networks. Registration can also be done through the scheme portal. You get a token back, and you show that token at the pump.

Around 25 million motorcycles are registered in Pakistan, so the pool of eligible riders is still far larger than the 5 million signed up by 24 September.

Where it is available

The relief is being sold at all working petrol stations. Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said tokens worth Rs 180 million were redeemed on Friday alone.

The scheme is the government's answer to a petrol price that has run from the low Rs 200s to around Rs 390 this year on the back of the Gulf shipping disruption, and to the petroleum levy of more than Rs 100 a litre that Jamaat-i-Islami is marching on Islamabad to have abolished.

What to watch

The ownership condition was the single biggest complaint from riders, many of whom use a bike bought second hand and never transferred. Removing it should push registrations up sharply this week. The 2006 cut off stays: a bike registered before 1 January 2006 still does not qualify.