Iran starts a Tehran pilot that allocates the fuel subsidy through the buyer's own bank card

Morteza Zamanian, deputy for economic policy at Iran's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, said on Saturday 1 August 2026 that a scheme allocating the fuel subsidy through the buyer's own bank card has begun. He said it was implemented with the oil and communications ministries and the Central Bank of Iran, within the framework of parliament's approvals, after years of being stalled by a lack of coordination between agencies.

Under the scheme the fuel subsidy is calculated against the bank card of the person actually buying, so that using a filling station card or someone else's card leaves little room for abuse. Zamanian said no change to station equipment is required, and that the system works out the final amount automatically from each person's quota at the moment of payment.

He stressed that the scheme has no connection to a petrol price increase or a change in quotas and imposes no new cost on the public, and that its purpose is to identify subsidy users precisely and to curb smuggling and leakage of consumption. The scheme has started as a pilot in Tehran.