The Commerce Ministry plans to launch Thong Fah Pracha Rat mobile units after the number of smart card machines installed in shops set up for the welfare scheme badly lags its target because of technical glitches, says Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong.
The Blue Flag scheme is part of the government's aid package for low-income earners who are issued with smart cards allowing them to get monthly subsidies to buy cheap consumer products from designated shops.
The government's goal is to have 8,000 Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops set up with electronic data capture (EDC) machines used for the welfare cards by Oct 1. However, only 2,000 shops have so far been installed with the EDCs.
"Because EDC installation has missed the target, and in order to make the shops to reach the low-income earners by the deadlines, we plan to set up the Thong Fah Pracha Rat mobile units, which are expected to bring state support to the low-income as planned," said Mr Sontirat.
He said Krungthai Bank, the state-owned financial arm that plays a major part in the project, reported that the EDC installation is taking longer than expected because of the addition of technical process to make transactions traceable and transparent.
Mr Sontirat said the Commerce Ministry is still going ahead with the scheme by sending a list of 6,000 shops that applied to be Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops to the bank for further EDC installation. The ministry aims to have Blue Flag shops in every district in the country.
The Blue Flag scheme was part of a 41.9 billion baht aid package approved by cabinet on Aug 29. Apart from help with low-priced consumer goods, the package also includes allowances for rides on public buses and trains, and subsidised utility bills. The scheme is scheduled to come into force on Oct 1, the start of fiscal 2018.
The scheme's recipients who earn under 30,000 baht a year will receive the monthly living allowance of 300 baht and those earnings in a range of 30,000 to 100,000 baht a year will get 200 baht a month for living allowance to cover basic needs at the participating shops.
The package will be offered to 11.7 million qualified registered low-income earners. A total of 14.1 million low-income earners have registered this year.
