Neel Kamal, TNN Sep 20, 2013, 10.55PM IST
BATHINDA: The much sought after direct benefit transfer ( DBT) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is turning out a costly affair for consumers who have linked their Aadhaar number and highly beneficial for the state government, which will reap a bonanza in value added tax(VAT).
The LPG consumers having linked their Aadhaar number to their LPG consumer number and the bank will have to shell out Rs. 24 more for every cylinder they purchase whereas the consumer still not having linked the Aadhaar will be getting cylinder for Rs. 24 less than Aadhaar linked customers. The union government has extended the scheme for three months or up to December 1 for linking their Aadhaar numbers to LPG.
An Aadhar linked customer is paying Rs. 990 for every cylinder after September 1 and is getting Rs. 535.65 as subsidy thereby a cylinder is costing the consumer for Rs. 454.35 whereas the consumers who have not linked their Aadhaar numbers are still getting subsidized cylinder at Rs. 430. The parity will continue till December 1 when all the customers will be put in the ambit of Aadhaar.
"The windfall for state government is that the VAT, which was Rs. 18.13 on every cylinder has now stand enhanced to Rs. 42.48 thereby government stand to benefit Rs. 24.35 extra on every cylinder and by rough estimates the government will gain by Rs. 200 to 250 crore in a year", said an officer of state owned oil company.
"We are getting many complaints from the customers who have already linked their Aadhaar to LPG and points out the lacunae of paying more by Rs. 24.35 than those who have not linked their Aadhar as of yet", said a LPG consumer of Barnala.
"The system is not rationale as it is punishment for consumers who have complied with the directions and paying more just for doing compliance. It would have been better had we not complied and enjoyed the extension of three months provided by government for non- complying consumers", said consumer Mahesh Kumar. By paying more money in purchasing LPG cylinder the consumer will see a cut in subsidy by about Rs. 25 which is unjustifiable, said another consumer Kuldeep Kumar.
Apart from it the rates of LPG cylinders are being enhanced regularly as the non subsidized cylinder was available for Rs. 893 in July and Rs. 948 in August and now it is costing Rs. 990.