The registration process for the National Fuel Pass is currently under way across the country with the voluntary participation of those in the National Youth Services Council, the National Youth Corps and the Youth Society Federation under the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. The fuel will be distributed using the QR code from July 25.
A pilot project in this regard was implemented in the Colombo district as a trial on July 21, Secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Anuradha Wijekoon told a media briefing at the Government Information Department on Friday, July 22.
The youth will go from door-to-door at village level and assist people who find it difficult to register to get this QR code free. They will download the code and give a printed copy for those who do not have a smartphone. These youth will be stationed near fuel filling stations, railway stations, bus stations and public places, he said.
Wijekoon said that fuel can be obtained from any filling station in the country after presenting this QR code and the long fuel queues will reduce in the future as a result of this.
Long queues are seen due to the fuel crisis and fuel stocks being hoarded by racketeers who sell the fuel at exorbitant rates. However, there is no way to continue such illegal rackets with the introduction of this application, he said and added that none of the previous mechanisms to eliminate fuel queues were successful.
“This code is a data system and it contains a lot of data as well as the amount of fuel released to vehicles and the amount that can be recovered,” the Secretary said.
Chairman/ Director General of the National Youth Service Council, Ravindra Wickramasinghe said over 3.6 million people had registered for the National Fuel Pass by Thursday, July 21. The National Youth Services Council, as the largest youth network in the island, will contribute much to this process, he added.