Starting this Friday, the benefit is enabled for the artisanal fishing and agricultural cargo transportation sector.
The Government announced this Thursday, April 16, modifications in the management of the fuel subsidy to respond to the technical difficulties reported by users.
Adolfo Fábrega, administrator of the Government Innovation Authority (AIG), confirmed that the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) will issue a new resolution to establish that the weekly subsidy limit be calculated exclusively in economic amounts and not in liters.
With this scheme, transporters will continue to receive a fixed weekly subsidy of $53.49 for taxis and $86.00 for buses, regardless of the price of fuel at each station.
A necessary change due to price variation
The decision arises after a meeting between the administrator of the AIG, the minister of the MEF, Felipe Chapman, and the Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo. Until now, the calculation based on liters generated distortions, since the subsidized amount varied depending on the sales price at each fuel station (for example, if the liter cost $1.15 versus $1.18).
“We are going to counteract that situation. We are going to base it solely on the amount to avoid complications in the consumption of the subsidy cap,” Fábrega explained.
New sectors add to the profit
After completing the technical validation, in addition to taxis, schoolchildren and buses, this Friday the platform will be enabled to add two key sectors such as artisanal fishing and food cargo transportation.
Fábrega explained that the integration of these two groups took longer due to the complexity of their validation, since, unlike taxis or buses, these sectors do not have operating certificates registered with the ATTT or standard vehicle license plates for the automated process.
Platform balance
Despite the adjustments, the administrator described the process as a “resounding success.” Current figures reflect massive adoption of the system:
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33,815 dispatches of subsidized fuel carried out at the national level.
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33,289 vehicles approved after completing your registration in panamaconnect.gob.pa.
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More than 90% of registration applications are being approved.
Quick guide for registration and use
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Record: It is done on the official portal. The system automatically validates that the vehicle is safe and sound with the ATTT and has a valid license plate.
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Multiple drivers: A single vehicle (such as a bus or taxi) can have several drivers or “levers” registered, who will be able to access the subsidy, always under the weekly limit assigned to the car.
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At the station: The user only has to present his ID and license plate number. The driver validates the authorization in the system, proceeds with the dispatch and that’s it.
