PUTRAJAYA: The definition of the T15 income category, which will be excluded from several government subsidies next year under the 2025 Budget, will not be based solely on gross household income, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
Instead, the definition will take into account variables such as net household income, locality, basic household spending for a reasonable quality of life, and others.
Rafizi said the new approach being developed by the government, which will apply to all income groups, is to ensure fairer subsidy distribution.
"I can confirm that the new method will not depend solely on gross household income. We are currently working on improvements based on net household income and several other factors.
"Once that's finalised, we can then set the statistical lines (for population groups) such as B40 and T15," he told reporters at the National Statistics Day 2024 Celebration and the Pre-launch of the Statistics Portal here yesterday.
He said when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim referred to the T15 during the 2025 Budget tabling, it was in reference to classification methods that will be announced later.
He rejected claims on social media that the definition will be based on salary.
"It will take into account many other factors, unlike what it being claimed on social media, that if your salary is this much, you will not get it (subsidies)," he said.
Rafizi said the current definitions which are solely based on basic household income are limited and unfair.
"We want to make it fairer than before. We have to consider many variables and not treat everyone the same.
"The problem now is that I know the media and social media (users) want to know everything (about the classification).
"But, we are looking at a country with a 30 million population. So we first need to determine how many variables we should use to ensure fairness."
During the 2025 Budget tabling on Friday, Anwar said subsidies would be gradually reduced for the T15, with the savings used to improve infrastructure for boarding schools and public universities.
He also announced that a targeted subsidy plan for RON95 fuel will be introduced in the middle of next year.
He said the savings generated by the government would be reinvested for the benefit of the public.
Anwar, who is Finance Minister, said foreigners and the 15 per cent wealthiest of the population have also been enjoying the current 40 per cent subsidy for RON95.
Anwar had also said the RM8 billion in subsidies would be better allocated to improving education, healthcare and public transport.
Last year, the government subsidised RON95 by up to RM20 billion.
Various groups have since called on the government to clarify its definition of the T15 income category.
Meanwhile, asked if data from the Central Database Hub (Padu) will be used to determine the income categories, Rafizi said although Padu data is the most complete, it still needs to be checked against the subsidy alignment programme.
"If Padu has all the data that meets the detailed criteria set, we can use it.
"If a decision made requires new data, we need to go through the process. We need to look at the final criteria that will determine eligibility," he said.
He said if Padu data is being used, the government will reopen registrations to allow those who have not registered to do so after it was closed on April 1.