More than 70% yet to enroll for LPG subsidy in state
TNN | Dec 29, 2014, 12.09PM IST
JAIPUR: Only 28% of the total LPG customers in state have registered so far as cash transfer compliant (CTC) in the state. With just three days to go before full launch of Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) more than 57 lakh people are unlikely to receive direct cash subsidy on their LPG connections.
For those who have not linked their LPG consumer id with their Aadhaar card, the Government of India started DBTL. This allows consumers to link their bank accounts directly with the gas connection and receive subsidy in their accounts. The scheme is scheduled to launch on January 1 across the country.
"There are two options for any consumer over receiving subsidy on LPG gas connections. Wherever Aadhaar number is available it will remain the medium of cash transfer. For this an LPG consumer has to link Aadhaar number to the bank account number and to the LPG consumer number," noted the government order.
It further added, "In case consumer does not have an Aadhaar number, then he can directly receive subsidy in his bank account without the use of Aadhaar number. This option which has now been introduced in the modified scheme ensures that LPG subsidy is not denied to an LPG consumer on account of lack of Aadhaar number. In this option, either consumer can provide bank account number or present LPG consumer information (17 digit LPG consumer ID) to the concerned agency."
However, in Rajasthan, out of 79.8 lakh customers only 22.41 lakh have enrolled. Jaipur ranks among the places with the lowest number of registrations with only 20.38% consumers registered under the DBTL scheme. Among other places Jodhpur, Bikaner and Churu are lagging way behind.
In absence of DBTL, the customer will not receive any subsidy on LPG and will have to purchase it on prevailing market rates. "There are still three days left. If they want to get the subsidy amount they should link their accounts immediately. All distributors have opened up their counters where they can fill the form and get their bank accounts linked," said a senior official of an oil and gas marketing company.
According to sources, one of the major reasons for lackluster response in major cities is that many consumers, who have multiple LPG connections, are indecisive about which connection to retain. The companies have asked all consumers to seed their LPG connection by using their existing bank account and deposit the details in the form with their LPG distributor.
Domestic LPG consumers, who had already joined the earlier DBTL scheme by linking their Aadhaar to bank and LPG database, don't need to do anything more to receive subsidy as the subsidy will be transferred to their bank accounts via Aadhaar based on the previous seeding.