About two million low income-earners, who missed out on previous registration for welfare cards, mostly because they don’t have smartphones, will get another chance to get register to receive financial help from the government, said Government Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonchana.
He said that the Fiscal Policy Office is now working on the regulations for registration, to be submitted to the Welfare Card for Grass-Root Economy Committee for consideration.
Currently, 13.65 million low-income earners have registered under the program. The benefits include:
• 300 baht monthly allowance for those who earn a maximum of 30,000 baht a year and 200 baht/month for those who earn between 30,000-100,000 baht a year to purchase goods at Blue Flag or other stores who join the program. They can also draw cash from their bank account.
• 500 baht/month public transport fees for bus and train services. To be eligible to use city bus or electric train services, the cardholder must register in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom, Ayutthaya, Samut Prakan, or Samut Sakhon.
• 45 baht discount every three months for cooking gas.
• Water and electricity fee discounts, if the monthly water bill is not over 100 baht a month and the electricity bill is not more than 230 baht per month.
• Disabled people are eligible for 1,000 baht per month.
Thanakorn said that current cardholders will be required to re-register because the Finance Ministry has made some changes to the regulations.
He also said that the Finance Ministry will wire the second portion of the co-payment scheme, amounting to 1,500 baht for each of the 24.08 million Thais who have joined the program, on October 1st, adding that those who have not used the first portion of 1,500 baht can continue to spend the balance until the end of December.
64.6 billion baht has been spent under the co-payment scheme since July 1st.
About 1.9 billion baht has been spent by 73,464 people under the “Ying Chai Ying Dai” (The More You Spend, The More You Get) scheme.
About 7.6 million baht has been spent under the purchasing power-boosting program for welfare cardholders.
Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service