As its nearing three months since its launch, the QR-based National Fuel Pass system has now crossed six million registrations according to the ICTA. That’s a little over 74% of the vehicle population in Sri Lanka (as per 2019 data). Back in July, the system was introduced as a means of rationing fuel supply and mitigating the queuing problem at filling stations.
Since then, the National Fuel system has come a fair distance fixing some of the initial bugs and adding useful functionalities like registering multiple vehicles under the BRN for one mobile number. Now, the ICTA has added two new features.
The SMS you get after pumping fuel via National Fuel Pass will now include the filling station code as well. This would enable users to keep track of the location fuel is pumped in case a particular QR code is misused.
You can also now disburse fuel for non-motor categories such as generators, grass cutters, and other equipment. The Ministry of Power and Energy is set to inform customers on how to register the equipment.
More to come?
Talking about what to expect from National Fuel Pass, Director and Software Architect at ICTA Dasun Hegoda mentions that a special quota mechanism will be allocated. This is aimed at different private and state entities, for instance, taxi services and tourist operators, that may need more than the allocated weekly quota. According to the Ministry, this feature is currently being tested in select sectors.
Further, there’s also a Tourist Fuel Pass in the works. The subject Minister’s tweet suggests that this pass would work as a contactless card where fuel could be disbursed via touch-card-enabled filling stations. The NFC/touch system will likely be facilitated via Dialog’s own touch card system.
While the National Fuel Pass system appears to be easing the queueing situation in the country, the larger problem remains with the supply itself. However, a little over a week ago, the Minister stated that the distribution lapses were rectified and the authorities will continue to dispatch 4000MT Diesel and 3000MT Petrol daily. Though time will tell how things pan out for consumers.
In related news, it’s also noted that the next pricing revision will be evaluated on 15 September
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