Gov’t urged to speed up issuance of SKPS fleet cards to school bus operators, following delays since Jan

The Federation of Malaysian School Bus Asso­cia­tions (SBOA) has urged the government to speed up the issuance of subsidised fuel fleet cards to eligible school bus operators. This comes following delays that have persisted since January, as The Star reports.

Association president Amali Munif Rahmat said that many members who are operating petrol-run school vans and qualify for the Subsidised Petrol Control Scheme (SKPS) have yet to receive their fleet cards, despite applying months ago. “Their applications have been approved but the cards have not been issued. Some have been waiting for nearly three months,” he told the publication in an interview.

He said that due to this delay, those affected have been forced to rely on their own Budi95 subsidy quota of 200 litres a month and buy petrol at market rates once it is exhausted. “If the delay continues until May, some operators may have no choice but to increase charges to cover costs,” he explained. As it is with bus operators and hauliers, rising operational costs are adding to the financial strain already felt by operators, Amali added.

The issue has been further compounded by the situation affecting about 1,000 operators, who are ineligible for the fuel subsidy as their vehicles are operating on petrol and natural gas (NGV). “These operators are now in the process of removing their NGV systems and re-registering their vehicles before they can apply again,” he said, adding the point that the conversion process takes time and adds to costs.

Recently, school bus operators had raised concerns over their 200-litre monthly subsidised RON 95 quota, saying it fell short of actual usage of up to 800 litres due to multiple daily trips. Amali said this shortfall was forcing operators to absorb ­higher fuel costs, with some considering fare hikes to stay afloat.

On fare increases, Amali stressed that the association does not set fare prices because it contravenes competition laws. “We can only advise, and each operator will decide based on their cost structure,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amali said there is a growing reliance on unregistered private vehicles to ferry students. He said this is because the number of school buses had declined from over 16,000 in 2010 to about 14,000 as of 2025, the reduction partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the gap has been filled by private vehicles, which he estimates numbers around 100,000 nationwide. With many of these operating outside the regulatory framework, with some charging as much as RM400 per student, he called on the government to introduce a programme to formalise these operators. This, he said, would improve oversight and safety and help stabilise the industry, while rejuvenating an ageing fleet of school buses, many of which are more than two decades old.

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