Finance Ministry restores rights for scheme

Finance Ministry restores rights for scheme

Some 1.1 million deprived registrants to receive rebate

Charnkrit Dejvitak (second left), the vice-minister attached to the prime minister, and Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta (second right) promote Taste-Shop-Spend via thailandpostmart.com.
Charnkrit Dejvitak (second left), the vice-minister attached to the prime minister, and Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta (second right) promote Taste-Shop-Spend via thailandpostmart.com.

The Finance Ministry has reinstated rights for the cash rebate to 1.1 million deprived registrants from the Taste-Shop-Spend scheme's first and second phases in an effort to boost spending and economic growth.

The same criteria for the cash rebate of up to 20% is applied to the 1.1 million registrants when they spend their own money from Pao Tang's G-Wallet 2 at participating shops in any province until Jan 31, said Pornchai Triraveja, adviser at the Fiscal Policy Office.

Under the scheme, recipients receive 15% cash back for spending of up to 30,000 baht at participating merchants. The rebate rises to 20% for more than 30,000 to 50,000 baht spent, with up to 8,500 baht available as cash back.

The deprived registrants failed to start spending for the 1,000-baht cash handout outside their home provinces within 14 days after receiving the SMS to confirm their right.

These registrants, however, will not receive the cash handout, Mr Pornchai said.

The deprived registrants who already completed the authentication process by filing out personal information and taking a selfie using the Pao Tang app can use the existing password to activate the G-Wallet 2 app, he said. Those who have not competed this process must verify themselves before the app is activated.

The Taste-Shop-Spend scheme is part of the government's stimulus efforts to trigger a spending spree and boost economic growth in the final quarter.

Regarding the quota of 500,000 reserved for the elderly to receive cash back, Mr Pornchai said 280,000 have applied and the Finance Ministry is pondering whether the remaining quota will be allocated to the general public through an additional round of registration.

Between Sept 27 and Dec 5, 11 million recipients of the three phases spent 19.2 billion baht, of which 11.6 billion baht was from the cash handout through G-Wallet 1 and the remainder from G-Wallet 2 for the cash rebate.

Mr Pornchai said spending via G-wallet 2 has been rising since last month.

Moreover, the Interior Ministry is considering offering a gold prize in a lucky draw to those who spend through the Pao Tang app every week to encourage spending, he said.

In a related development, Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said that apart from the rights awarded under the third phase of the scheme, those who buy goods and services at www.thailandpostmart.com will also be entitled to a 5% discount off their next purchases.

Buyers are also guaranteed delivery service within 1-2 days.

Mr Buddhipongse said Thailand Post has allowed merchants and community entrepreneurs who are interested in the scheme to register at provincial offices of the Comptroller-General's Department in 76 provinces until Jan 31.

Operators based in Bangkok need to file applications at the Comptroller-General's Department for the same period.

Once approved, they can proceed with signing up to sell their products at www.thailandpostmart.com in the Taste-Shop-Spend category and wait for approval within seven days. They will be allowed to sell their goods immediately after the website's endorsement.

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