Jan 12 ,2015, Bengaluru, dhns:
Even as the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) has been initiated in full swing from January 2015, LPG distributors are doubtful about the March 31 deadline being met, given the inordinate delay on the part of banks to link Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts of customers.
Distributors fear that at this rate, banks will be unable to meet the March 31 deadline for linking bank accounts to their ID proof (eventually to the customers’ gas connection registration) and customers will bear the brunt of it in the end. Further, not all banks are yet compliant with the DBTL scheme and customers having accounts in these banks will not be able to avail benefits under the scheme, distributors said.
According to statistics available with the All India Distributors Federation, the total percentage of Aadhaar numbers seeded by distributors in Karnataka is 57 per cent against the Aadhaar numbers seeded by banks, which stood at 43 per cent. There is a gap of 14 per cent in the process between distributors and banks. This percentage goes up to 20-25 in some districts. Chamarajanagar, Ramanagar, Chikkaballapur and Kolar for instance have a gap of above 20 per cent in seeding Aadhaar cards.
How it works
The LPG distributors have to link the customers gas registration and the Aadhaar number. Similarly, banks have to link bank account numbers with Aadhaar numbers. Once this is done, a consumer is Cash Transfer Compliant (CTC) under the scheme and the LPG subsidy will be transferred to the customer’s account. The scheme, which was introduced in 2013, was discontinued later. In November 2014, it was re-introduced in some districts. From January, it is being implemented in full swing across the country. In the modified scheme, even those without Aadhaar numbers can apply for the scheme by submitting bank account details.
“Several customers who have their Aadhaar numbers have submitted the same to the distributors a year ago when the scheme was first introduced. The banks are yet to process these applications,” said N Sathyan, Secretary of All India Distributors Federation (Karnataka Circle).
Unless banks start the process immediately, they will not be able to deal with the huge backlog before March 31, said Capt B L Lingaraju, senior vice-president, All-India LPG Distribution Federation.
Members of the All India Distributors Federation pointed out that not all banks are compliant with the scheme. There are a total of 277 banks approved under the scheme. However, not all banks are covered in the list. “For example, Karnataka Bank is not in the list,” Capt Lingaraju said.
Further, for those who did not have bank accounts till now, some banks are asking them to bring “introducers” to open an account.
Certain banks are also charging a fee for linking Aadhaar to bank accounts, which is against the regulation.