The South Korean government has lifted restrictions that previously limited the use of high oil price relief subsidies to stores with annual sales of 3 billion won ($2.2 million) or less, allowing them to be used at large gas stations as well.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday it held the third meeting of the pan-government task force on high oil price relief subsidies and decided to expand the list of eligible vendors to include gas stations with annual sales exceeding 3 billion won.
The measure aims to ease the fuel cost burden caused by prolonged high oil prices amid instability in the Middle East and to improve the convenience of using the subsidies. Previously, subsidy use was restricted to small business stores with annual sales of 3 billion won or less and to merchants accepting regional gift certificates.
Under the revised rules, gas stations will be eligible regardless of their sales size. Recipients who received the subsidies via credit, debit or prepaid cards will be able to use them at all gas stations within their registered local government jurisdiction starting on the first day of next month.
Exceptions apply, however. Subsidy use may be restricted when a gas station and a nearby large store share the same business registration number and use the same payment terminal.
The scope of use also expands for those who received the subsidies through regional gift certificates. Beyond existing affiliated gas stations, recipients can use the subsidies at gas stations temporarily registered for this purpose, regardless of sales size. Affiliation status varies by local government, however, so recipients should check in advance through the regional gift certificate app or the local government website.
"We expect this measure to ease the burden of fuel and other household expenses for the public and to improve the convenience of using the subsidies," Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung said. "We will continue to make improvements so that the public can use the system without inconvenience."
The measure is seen as a follow-up to an instruction from President Lee Jae-myung. The presidential office had recently directed officials to review ways to allow the high oil price subsidies to be used at gas stations with annual sales of 3 billion won or more.
"The high oil price relief subsidy was structured in a way that made it difficult to use at gas stations with annual sales of 3 billion won or more," Lee Kyu-yeon, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said on a radio program the previous day. "Considering that from the public's perspective this is a fuel cost subsidy that could not actually be used at gas stations, the intent was to review improvements to the system."
