THE RON95 petrol subsidy rationalisation mechanism being refined by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) will be done using data from the Central Main Database System (PADU), said to Finance Minister II, Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
Amir Hamzah, who carries out the responsibilities and functions of the Economy Minister, said so far the system has provided 30.4 million individual profiles.
The profiles, he said, are related to demographic, locality, socioeconomic information as well as employment, income, education, vehicle ownership, poverty status and type of assistance received by the individual.
"Regarding the implementation of targeted subsidies, the PADU data that will be used by the MOF is intended to be a reference for RON95 subsidy recipients.
"Currently, the government is focusing on using the latest data to improve the effectiveness of service delivery. For example, validating and verifying applicant information to identify truly eligible recipients and reducing errors," he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Aminolhuda Hassan (PH-Sri Gading) regarding the Economy Ministry's plans for the PADU system and the amount of data collected as of June 2025 as well as the government's readiness to conduct periodic audits of the system through an independent body to ensure transparency and proper governance.
Amir Hamzah said that through the available data, the government can also identify intervention programmes for specific target groups.
In addition, he said, currently, a total of 204 agencies have implemented continuous data sharing and integration with PADU, with the use of data still limited to the specific needs of government agencies.
"To encourage data-driven decision-making, a PADU sharing guideline was created and distributed to all government agencies on Feb 25, in addition to information sessions for ministries and agencies, state governments and local authorities being held from February to June this year.
"To date, nine applications (for the use of PADU data) from various agencies have been approved for the purpose of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of policies and service digitisation innovations," he said. – August 4, 2025
