1,000-Toman Deduction at Fuel Stations Goes to Acquiring Bank

The head of the smart fuel system said the 1,000-toman deduction when using a bank card under the fuel identification plan is an identity verification fee and is allocated to the acquiring bank.

According to reporter Mehr Abbas Basfa, the director of the Smart Fuel System, in a radio interview, stated that 40-45% of refueling transactions in the country are done with the emergency cards of stations, and said: In the "identification" scheme, the deduction of one thousand tomans when swiping a bank card is only for inquiry and authentication of the person and has nothing to do with the Ministry of Petroleum and the National Oil Products Distribution Company. This amount is allocated to the bank.

Referring to the ambiguities raised about the deduction of one thousand tomans at fuel stations, Basfa said: This code and the amount of one thousand tomans is only for the authentication process. Now, 40 to 45 percent of refueling transactions in the country are done with the emergency cards of stations, and it can be said that nearly 100 percent of off-grid supply is done through these emergency cards.

He continued: To manage these transactions, the "identification" plan has been implemented. In this plan, the person must be authenticated; Therefore, when withdrawing a bank card, the amount of one thousand Tomans is deducted to verify the person's identity. This amount has nothing to do with the Ministry of Oil and the National Oil Products Distribution Company, it does not reach the government or our organization, and it is for the inquiries received that are spent elsewhere.

The manager of the smart fuel system of Iran's National Oil Products Distribution Company explained about the place of deposit of this amount and the reason for receiving it: The mentioned amount is assigned to the agent bank that performs identity authentication. Just as people pay for some other banking transactions, such as card-to-card or car infringement inquiry, this case is also the cost of inquiry and authentication based on the national code.

He stated: In the banking system, the authentication fee is set from one thousand tomans to five thousand tomans, but with extensive consultations, we were able to reduce this figure to the minimum possible, that is, one thousand tomans. This amount is charged based on legal approvals and for services provided by banks.

Basfa also said about the technical support costs of the system: the purchased card reader devices cost between 40 and 50 million tomans, and we have announced that 30,000 devices should be provided in order to serve the people.

He added: Last year, only the cost of paper in this sector was 500 billion tomans. These thousands of Tomans should be used to support these systems and devices. The operating bank is obliged to provide 24-hour support seven days a week in order to solve the problem as soon as possible in case of technical defects in the devices. Therefore, this amount will not remain unused, but will be spent directly in the cycle of serving the people and supporting the infrastructure.

The manager of the smart fuel system of Iran's National Oil Products Distribution Company emphasized about the re-deduction of this amount every time refueling: According to the law, 95% of refueling must be done with a personal card. If a person wants to use a card other than his personal card, it should be clear to whom the fuel has been delivered to establish sovereignty, manage distribution and prevent fuel smuggling. Therefore, the authentication process is repeated every time the emergency card is used; Because the system must query the relevant systems for each transaction.

He said: We have abandoned the main issue and have dealt with the minor issues. We have been working around the clock for more than a year to resolve people's concerns; So that there is no need to beg to get 10 liters of gasoline anymore and people are not told during trips that the limit of 255 card transactions is over and they have to wait three to four hours for the system to reset.

Basfa added: We launched this system to end people's waiting, to prevent off-grid supply and smuggling, and to deliver fuel to real consumers. The implementation of such projects has infrastructure costs that banks and companies charge for services and inquiries based on legal tariffs.

He clarified about the reason for informing after the implementation of the plan and changing the payment method: Currently, the implementation of this plan is limited only to Tehran province and we are busy with comprehensive information. Previously, the "advance payment" or "voucher" method was considered, based on which the person first paid the fee and received a receipt; But this method created challenges for people in practice.

The manager of the smart fuel system of Iran's National Oil Products Distribution Company continued: For example, a person would pay for 25 liters and get a token, but the car's tank did not have a capacity of more than 20 liters, and the rest of the money remained in the station's account. The operator was not able to return it in cash. Sometimes the system was interrupted or the person wanted to pay in cash or with a gift card. We investigated these challenges and after a few days of testing, we came up with this mechanism to solve people's problems completely.