Anuja Jaiswal, TNN | Jan 11, 2015, 07.21PM IST
About 25 people in Chhattisgarh have opted for buying the cooking gas at the market price without the government’s dole.
RAIPUR: While finance minister, Arun Jaitley, has taken the initiative among the country's VVIPs to opt for 'no subsidy' on domestic LPG, there are about 25 people in Chhattisgarh who have already opted for buying the cooking gas at the market price without the government's dole.
Talking to TOI, State Coordinator of oil companies, Raju Muni Tamrakar said though the number of such people is still less, about 25 consumers in the state have so far voluntary given up the subsidy. He said those desiring to do so, have to fill Form 5 to deny subsidy payments
Stating that the subsidy amount of Rs 371 per cylinder is "meagre" for affluent families, Tamrakar said with the finance minister's initiative getting wide publicity, many more people are likely to join in. He said as of now an average of 50% of the 16.21 lakhs consumers of various LPG suppliers have linked up their bank accounts for receiving the subsidy directly. Tamrakar said majority of those who have opted for 'no-subsidy' are either senior government or corporate sector employees.
He said as of now each consumer who registers for direct subsidy payment would receive a onetime permanent advance of Rs 568 in their bank account prior to buying the first LPG cylinder at market price. Subsequently they would get a subsidy of Rs 371 in their bank account after delivery of the refills.
While officials say that it is too early to predict the number of people who voluntarily give up their subsidies, a considerable saving could be made on the government's annual LPG subsidy bill of Rs 46,458 crore if affluent people opt for 'no-subsidy'.
In Chhattisgarh, about 8 lakh (50%) consumers have so far been linked for direct subsidy transfer. Officials say that consumers have to either submit their Aadhaar details to the distributor or bank, or fill up a bank mandate form, available with the dealer (if there is no Aadhaar card) and link it to the subsidy mechanism.
According to estimates, direct payment of subsidy would save about Rs 8000 crores (15%) subsidy by eliminating misuse of domestic supply