RIYADH: Petrol stations in the Kingdom will start accepting e-payments via the Saudi Payments Network (MADA) from July 17.
Ziad Al-Yousef, managing director of MADA, said it has provided 4,000 e-payment machines to petrol stations and services stores.
He added that banks are ready to provide machines upon requests from operators, and that those who do not fulfil this obligation will be dealt with by inspectors from the Ministry of Commerce and Investment (MoCI).
Abdulaziz Al-Barrak, deputy head of the national committee for petrol stations, said all 12,000 of them in the Kingdom will have to implement the initiative or face a fine.
Economist and financial analyst Talat Zaki Hafiz told Arab News that the initiative is in line with the Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP), which is striving for a cashless society and to reach an e-payment target across the Kingdom of 70 percent by 2030.
He said customers will be entitled to file a complaint of non-availability of service via the ministry’s various channels.
“The fuel station sector is required to provide the terminals and electronic payment at its stations and service facilities,” Hafiz added.
Saudi banks have been asked to be ready to receive requests from the petrol sector and respond to them through all the different banking channels such as branches as well as internet banking and telephone banking.
“Objections can also be submitted to banks that have not complied with, either by delaying the process or not providing the necessary maintenance for devices,” he said.
On possible challenges, Hafiz said that the most important challenges that may face the initiative in the coming period is the lack of commitment of the target sector to request and provide devices to their locations during the period following the ministerial decision, as the announcement was made more than three months ago.
He added that the customers will be entitled to file a complaint of non-availability of service after the target date through the different channels of the MoCI.
