“The new smart-card system for subsidised fuel is ready to be implemented on time, as scheduled, on June 15,” said Ibrahim Sarhan, head of E-Finance, the company responsible for issuing the smart cards, at a press conference in Cairo on Sunday. Sarhan said his company is working with traffic departments across the country to make petrol and diesel available through the smart-card system to the owners of tok-toks, the three-wheeled motorcycle with a cabin for passengers, and farmers who need fuel to run agricultural machinery. He added that this will be done by using the smart-card machines in petrol stations that store national identification numbers and record the quantity of fuel purchased. The new system, which aims to help rationalise expenditure on fuel subsidies, allows drivers to buy subsidised petrol and diesel fuel at petrol stations with smart cards and without a ceiling on the quantities purchased. According to Sarhan, E-Finance had issued 3.7 million cards by the beginning of May, with 1.7 million more to be distributed by the end of this month.
