Behind the Scenes of Fuel Station Deductions: Who Pays for the Government's New Plan?

The deduction of 1,000 toman from bank accounts during fuel purchases has raised questions for drivers.

The implementation of the plan to identify the emergency cards of fuel stations and to deduct 1000 Tomans when using a bank card has created questions for drivers. Explaining the reason for receiving this amount, Basfa, the manager of Smart Fuel System, stated that the mentioned fee is only related to the process of inquiry and authentication of people and will not be deposited into the account of the Ministry of Oil or the National Oil Products Distribution Company. The manager of the smart fuel system explained that in the plan to identify the emergency cards, the identity of the person using the station card must be determined. For this purpose, when performing the authentication process through a bank card, the amount of 1000 Tomans will be deducted from the person's account.

According to him, this amount is allocated to the operating bank and is received for inquiry and authentication services. Therefore, the announced fee of 1000 Tomans is not the price of gasoline or an additional amount on the rate of each liter of fuel, but it is a separate fee for the user identification process in the new plan.

45% of refueling is done with the station card

Referring to the statistics of the use of emergency cards, Basfa announced that currently around 40-45% of refueling transactions in the country are done with these cards. This statistic shows that a significant part of drivers use the cards available at stations instead of using their personal fuel cards. The manager of the smart fuel system also stated that nearly 100 percent of off-grid fuel supply is done through emergency cards at stations. According to him, one of the goals of implementing the identification plan is to increase the possibility of tracking transactions and managing how emergency cards are used.

What is the purpose of identification of emergency cards?

In the new plan, an attempt is made to link the use of the station's fuel card to the identity of the person receiving the fuel. This action is aimed at making refueling transactions more transparent and reducing the possibility of misuse of emergency cards. Officials of the smart fuel system believe that registering users' identities can help identify unusual consumption patterns and control off-grid supply.

Is the fee of 1000 Tomans paid to the government?

The manager of Smart Fuel System has emphasized that the amount received for authentication is not considered as income of the Ministry of Oil or the National Oil Products Distribution Company. According to his explanation, this amount will be allocated to the operating bank and will be received for identity inquiry services. As a result, the deduction of 1000 Tomans should not be considered as an official increase in the price of gasoline.

What points should drivers pay attention to when using the location card?

According to the explanation provided, the authentication cost is related to the process of using emergency cards in the identification scheme. However, the exact details of how often each driver will be charged and how it will be applied across all stations were not outlined in the recent statement. In this way, drivers must distinguish between the amount paid for gasoline and the separate cost of authentication.

The implementation of this plan is followed in a situation where the significant share of emergency cards in refueling transactions has turned the management and monitoring of gasoline consumption into one of the important issues of the country's fuel distribution network.