ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said Friday more than 7.5 million people had benefited from its fuel subsidy since Sept. 15, as the government seeks to cushion lower-income motorists from rising petrol costs linked to the Middle East conflict.

The US-Iran war has disrupted Gulf energy supplies and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the passage connecting the Gulf to the open sea. Pakistan imports much of its fuel, leaving households and businesses exposed to higher international prices.

The relief scheme targets motorcycle and rickshaw users, who receive a weekly petrol token worth Rs500 ($1.80), and owners of cars with engines of up to 800cc. Eligible car owners receive a Rs100 ($0.36) discount per liter on up to 10 liters every 10 days.

“It is reassuring that more than 7.5 million citizens have benefited from the relief scheme in the short period since Sept. 15,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, according to a statement issued by his office after a review meeting.

Officials briefed Sharif that registrations had exceeded 8.4 million, while more than 10.3 million of the 12.2 million tokens issued had been redeemed. The scheme was operating in 129 districts, the statement said.

Token redemptions count transactions rather than separate beneficiaries, because registered motorists can receive relief repeatedly. The statement did not explain how the government calculated the number of individual beneficiaries.

The latest figures update those announced on Sept. 25, when Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja reported 5.91 million registrations and 4.79 million redeemed tokens.

Authorities have adjusted the scheme following public feedback, removing a requirement for motorcycle and rickshaw users to purchase five liters in a single transaction. The change allows motorists buying smaller quantities to redeem their weekly relief.

But expanding uptake has coincided with difficulties for some applicants. Visits by Arab News to 10 petrol stations in Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi found motorists receiving subsidies alongside others encountering registration errors, documentation problems and uncertainty over how to resolve them.

Pump workers said some applications generated unexplained failure messages. The Information Technology Ministry did not respond to questions for that report about the problems or further measures to address them. The visits did not establish how widespread registration failures were nationally.

Thursday’s briefing said a round-the-clock call center was assisting motorists and petrol station operators, while the Prime Minister’s Office public affairs unit and public representatives were helping citizens register. It did not provide complaint figures or say how many registration problems had been resolved.