The Fuel Pass program was discussed by the Ministry of Finance spokesperson, Omiros Tsapalos, who emphasized that the platform opens today, Monday (6/4) around 5:00 PM and that it is a very simple process, after which the beneficiary receives the subsidy within 48 hours.
Tsapalos on fuel pass: Platform opens at 5 PM, payment schedule announced
Speaking on Monday morning on ERTnews Radio, Omiros Tsapalos initially stated: “You log in with your Taxis codes, match your tax number with the vehicle for which you want to receive the subsidy, and at that moment your application is essentially approved or rejected based on the existing income criteria, which I remind you are up to €35,000 family income, increased by €5,000 for each dependent child.”
He added regarding payments: “From that point on, those who apply today will be paid within 48 hours, that is, on Holy Wednesday, most likely. Those who apply on Holy Tuesday will also be paid before Easter, most likely on Holy Thursday. However, those who submit applications from Holy Wednesday onwards will necessarily, due to the holidays and banking closure, receive payments after Easter Tuesday – it will take several days for the settlement to be processed. In any case, those who may travel and want to return with lower fuel costs will be able to benefit from the Fuel Pass during their return journey. We expect many people to submit applications today.”
Prerequisites and amounts
The Ministry of Finance spokesperson emphasized that all technical tests have been conducted by the relevant services so that even if there is high traffic today, the system will be able to handle it.
The vehicle declared by the citizen must be registered in their name, insured, with circulation fees paid – essentially the vehicle must be in complete legal standing to qualify for the subsidy, provided the criteria are met.
Beneficiaries will receive €25 for April and €25 for May, plus additional money if they are in an island area, noted Omiros Tsapalos, provided they are paid via digital card, as if they choose to receive the subsidy through a bank account, the amount is €10 less.
He added: “Regarding whether this is better than what other countries offer, for example, Spain chose to subsidize through horizontal tax reduction 23 cents for diesel and approximately 30-34 cents for gasoline. We, as the Greek government, chose to subsidize 20 cents horizontally for diesel and 36 cents through Fuel Pass for gasoline, or 43 cents for island areas. (…) We see that Greece subsidizes gasoline more than Spain, and for diesel, it competitively matches Spain’s subsidy – 20 cents for us, 23 for them.”
Approximately 80% of vehicles are subsidized
The Ministry of Finance spokesperson, providing additional clarifications, noted that legal entities are not entitled to subsidies, but only natural persons and freelancers qualify, and that if a car has two owners, one of the two receives the subsidy.
For islanders, the amount reaches €60 with a digital card or €50 to a bank account. Motorcycle owners are also entitled to €30 with a digital card or €25 to a bank account. As Omiros Tsapalos concluded, approximately 80% of vehicles owned by natural persons and freelancers are subsidized through the fuel pass program.
