According to a Bernama report, the subsidy programme will use information from the Central Database Hub (PADU) to determine eligibility based on household income after deductions, as outlined by the Ministry of Economy.

The ministry stated that the PADU system stores personal and household information for Malaysian citizens and permanent residents. As of March 31, 2024, 10.55 million individuals have updated their details in the PADU database.

"The system is currently in Phase 2, where data analysis is conducted to identify household information, assess reasonable expenses, and calculate disposable income," stated the economy ministry on the Parliament's website.



The economy ministry stated that the process to refocus fuel subsidies began with the Madani subsidy assistance programme (Budi Madani). This was in response to Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's inquiry about the total registrations on PADU and the reasons for not using PADU data for diesel subsidy applications.

"The diesel subsidies under Budi Madani have utilised the government's current database. Regarding this issue, information from Budi Madani will be regularly shared and incorporated into PADU to enhance the overall dataset," stated the economy ministry.

Earlier this year, the Central Database Hub (PADU) was launched to bring together data from different government departments and agencies. It includes information on individuals and households, with 70 of these operating at the federal level.

Last week, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli announced that the government had spent RM85.27 million to build the database. Questions arose about PADU when owners of diesel vehicles had to register for assistance under the Budi Madani programme.