5294 - Bank transfer of LPG subsidy scrapped - Oheraldo

Bank transfer of LPG subsidy scrapped March 12, 2014 TEAM HERALD teamherald@herald-goa.com PANJIM: The Union Ministry of Oil and Petroleum has finally scrapped the direct benefit transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) subsidy with effect from March 10. As a result, LPG customers in the state will now have to pay the subsidized amount of a little over Rs 400 for a refill cylinder. With LPG companies implementing this notification, customers need not be expected to follow the earlier system of paying a hefty price of over Rs 1000 for subsidized cylinders and then waiting for the subsidized amount to be credited into their Aadhaar-linked bank account. According to estimates, 14,77,163 (above 95 percent) people have enrolled for Aadhaar card and over 70 percent of consumers are reported to have linked their Aadhaar number with bank accounts for the LPG subsidy.  Residents will now get their quota of 12 cylinders till March end and will then get a fresh quota of 12 subsidised cylinders from April 1 onwards.  Now, with  the DBTL subsidy scrapped, LPG companies will revert to their earlier payment of Rs 400-441 per cylinder, which basically varies for different talukas.  “While the ministry had earlier withheld it, we have been told that the system has now been scrapped. We don’t have to bother about the linking the LPG subsidy to an Aadhaar-linked bank account any more. From April 1, residents can avail a subsidy on 12 cylinders, but will have to pay the non-subsidised rate for the 13th cylinder and thereon,” said an oil company representative. Gas agencies, meanwhile, will have to delete the programme from their system. “For the last two to three months, we had been after people to meet the deadline and link their Aadhaar cards with bank accounts to avail of the subsidy. Now, with this announcement, no amount needs to be transferred to banks. We are making sure that the pending cases are cleared by the government,” said a gas agency representative. The Union cabinet had on January 2014 suspended the DBTL scheme, but raised the quota of subsidized cooking gas from nine to 12 per household in a financial year. The notification in this regard was issued last week. The scheme was suspended because many complained that they were not getting the benefit in absence of either an Aadhaar card or a bank account linked to the Aadhaar card. As per the direct benefit transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme, consumers in 289 districts in 18 states were expected to buy LPG refill cylinders at market rates and later cash ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 600 refunded into their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. With this scheme scrapped, the central government has decided to pay subsidies to oil companies as was the earlier practice, leaving the customers to pay only the subsidized amount for an LPG refill.