February 15, 2015
RAGHAVA M. AND
Oil company representatives have been getting calls from LPG consumers expressing fear that they would lose their connections if they do not provide Aadhaar details immediately.
A company representative said the fear was caused by an advertisement released in a few newspapers by the Unique Identification Authority of India asking people to “choose” Aadhaar to ensure they continue to get gas subsidy. While the government has time and again made it clear that those who do not have Aadhaar card too can join the Pahal (new name for Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG subsidy or DBTL), the advertisement does not say that the bank account numbers could be linked directly to Pahal. The oil company executive thought it was “unnecessary” to link Aadhaar registration to getting subsidy.
RAGHAVA M. and
GOVIND D. BELGAUMKAR