PM Shehbaz help desks petrol pumps initiative has been ordered by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to assist citizens with registration for the government’s fuel subsidy scheme, following complaints of confusion around how the recently launched Rs. 100 per liter relief package actually works at the pump level.
What the Prime Minister Ordered
The decision was made during a meeting in Islamabad on September 16 to review progress on the PM Special Relief Scheme, which provides fuel subsidies to owners of motorcycles, rickshaws and vehicles up to 800cc. The newly ordered help desks will be staffed with a mix of government officials, volunteers and petrol pump staff, tasked with guiding eligible citizens through registration and any other steps required to access the subsidy.
Officials briefed the Prime Minister that the scheme has now been launched across the entire country, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, expanding well beyond its original pilot phase which began in Islamabad. According to the briefing, registration for the scheme requires only four pieces of information: the applicant’s CNIC number, vehicle number plate, province of registration and vehicle registration date, keeping the process relatively simple on paper.
Why the Help Desks Were Needed
The government said the number of successful registrations under the scheme is gradually increasing, with provincial governments supporting the nationwide rollout. However, the move to set up dedicated help desks comes shortly after petrol pump owners and their representative association publicly said they had not been given clear guidance on how the subsidy payment mechanism would work, warning that confusion at the pump could lead to disputes between customers and station operators.
Prime Minister Shehbaz directed authorities to increase public awareness about the scheme and to ensure eligible citizens receive proper assistance, signaling that the government is trying to address implementation gaps quickly rather than let confusion persist as the scheme scales up nationwide. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, along with federal ministers Ahsan Khan Cheema, Attaullah Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Ali Pervaiz Malik, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, Special Assistant Tariq Bajwa and other senior officials.
For citizens eligible for the subsidy, the new help desks are expected to reduce reliance on word-of-mouth information and give applicants a direct point of contact at the pump itself, rather than navigating the registration process without support. Read more about the concerns raised by petrol pump owners over the Rs 100 subsidy payment process, which appears to have prompted this latest government response.
Analysts following the rollout say the success of the PM Special Relief Scheme will largely depend on how smoothly the registration and verification process works at the ground level, since digital literacy and access vary significantly across Pakistan’s urban and rural populations. Placing trained staff directly at petrol pumps is seen as a practical way to bridge that gap, particularly for motorcycle and rickshaw owners who may not be comfortable registering through an app or website on their own. The government has not yet said how many help desks will be set up nationwide or over what timeframe, but officials indicated that further details would follow as the scheme’s second phase progresses.