7464 - 'Centre has not involved TN civil Supplies & Consumer

'Centre has not involved TN civil Supplies & Consumer

Press Trust of India  |  Madurai  February 26, 2015 Last Updated at 21:57 IST 

Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department today told the Madras High Court Bench here that the Centre had not involved it in MDBTL for LPG scheme as the entire subsidy was borne by them, distribution network was under control of public sector OMCs and the issue was the Centre's administrative competence and jurisdiction.

The Department Commissioner stated this in his counter filed before the Court on a PIL by a lawyer Anandhamurgan, challenging the Centre's move to link Aadhaar and bank account details with domestic gas cylinder connection as part of the Modified Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme.

However, the state government had suggested that the total subsidy amount should not be fixed and should be increased as and when LPG market price increased, to ensure that consumers were not put to hardship. It had also opposed the concept of Aadhar card/Aadhar number mandatory for MDBTL scheme.

It had also urged the Prime Minister to address issues such as availability of adequate banking infrastructure across the state by deeper penetration in villages through primary agricultural cooperative societies and post offices.

The state had also opposed the Centre's move to monetize and transfer in cash the subsidy element under PDS.

Anantha Murugan filed the PIL contending that the Supreme Court had restrained the oil companies from demanding Aadhaar card number to provide gas cylinders.

"While so, the central government has introduced a new system, Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL), by which it demanded details of Aadhaar/bank account of the customer. Hence, the government's action should be restrained," he said.

7343 - LPG booking blocked for non-compliant customers - The Hindu

MYSURU, February 7, 2015

Updated: February 7, 2015 05:40 IST

LPG booking blocked for non-compliant customers

R. KRISHNA KUMAR

There are around 5.5. million LPG consumers in Mysuru district and more than 95 per cent of them have complied with the norms.— Photo: M.A. Sriram

It’ll be restored once customers submit Aadhaar number or bank account details

Online and mobile booking of LPG cylinders by customers who have not submitted either their bank account or Aadhaar details has been blocked by LPG distributors in the city.

This is to ensure that the customers comply with the required norms under the Modified Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme.

The facility would be restored once the documents are submitted.

Modified DBTL norms

Under the modified DBTL norms, consumers who do not have Aadhaar need to submit only bank account details to the LPG distributor and the 17-digit LPG identity number to the bank, to claim subsidy. But even these norms have not been complied by some consumers.

Sources told The Hindu that the public sector oil and gas companies – HP, Indian Oil and Bharat Gas – have raised queries with the LPG distributors, suspecting that such customers could be holding benami or fictitious accounts.

A representative of Sri Raghavendra Agency, which is a distributor for HP Gas, told The Hindu that seeding of consumer number with bank accounts has not taken place after January 20 due to a technical glitch, which was being sorted out.

However, there have been cases of the facility not being restored even after the submission of documents to banks and the LPG distributors.

Repeated reminders

Mehul Patel, distributor for HP Gas, said that in spite of media coverage and repeated reminders through SMS, some consumers feign ignorance about the norms and blame the distributors.

So they have been asked to give an undertaking in writing that they are aware of the DBTL requirements and would comply with the norms in due course, he added.

There are around 5.5. million LPG consumers in the district and more than 95 per cent of them have complied with the Aadhaar and revised DBTL norms.

7335 - No consumer will be denied LPG subsidy, Centre tells HC - TNN

No consumer will be denied LPG subsidy, Centre tells HC

L Saravanan, TNN | Feb 6, 2015, 02.32PM IST

MADURAI: The oil and natural gas ministry on Thursday filed a counter affidavit at the Madurai bench of the Madras high court to a PIL challenging the linking of Aadhaar and bank details with domestic gas cylinder to avail subsidy under the modified direct benefit transfer of LPG (MDBTL) scheme. 

Filing the counter affidavit before the division bench of Chief Justice Sanyaj Kishan Kaul and justice Dr S Tamilvana, under secretary of the ministry A Ushabala said the Central government launched the MDBTL scheme in 54 districts on November 15 last year and in the rest of the country on January 1 this year. 

As per the scheme, two options were given to consumers to receive LPG subsidy — either linking Aadhaar number to bank account number and to the LPG consumer number, which is the earlier method, or directly linking consumer number with bank account without Aadhaar. 

Thus, no LPG consumer will be denied subsidy on account of lack of Aadhaar number. Further, the scheme had ensured to stop diversion of subsidized cylinder to commercial establishments and thereby saved public money. 

In an exercise to prevent multiple connections to a household, one crore active LPG connections were blocked so far and it will lead to an indicative recurring subsidy saving of Rs 3,948 crore per annum, the under secretary said. 

Besides, Know Your Customer and de-duplication process prior to release of a new connection is now mandatory. It has resulted in detection of 1.58 million applications (8%) as duplicate and hence rejection of the same. 

Moreover, the matter relating to Aadhaar is being adjudicated upon by the SC and an additional affidavit on MDBTL scheme has also been submitted before it. Hence, it is appropriate to wait for the judgment, the affidavit said. 

Above all, the LPG that is supplied as a public distribution system (PDS) commodity under the Essential Commodities Act, which does not prevent the government from deploying technological solutions to improve the efficiency of the PDS system. 

And administrative decision made in the interest of public does not warrant judicial review, Ushabala said. 

Hence, the PIL has been filed on a wrong premise and it has no merits. The PIL is liable to be set aside, Ushabal said. 

Following it, the division bench adjourned the matter by three weeks. 

7286 - National scheme for financial inclusion launched in Phek

National scheme for financial inclusion launched in Phek

DIPR
Dimapur, January 29

The Deputy Commissioner Phek, Murohu Chotso has informed the people of Phek district residing within the district that the government of India has initiated and launched the PRADHAN MANTRI JAN-DHAN YOJANA (PMJDY) which is a “National Mission on Financial Inclusion”. 

The main objective of the PMJDY is to ensure universal access to banking facilities with atleast one basic Banking Account for every household. 

Secondly, the government of India, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched the modified Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme which has been launched in 54 Districts on 15/11/2014 and the remaining districts of the country on 1st Jan. 2015. Under this Scheme, the LPG consumers who join this Scheme will get all domestic LPG cylinders at market price and subsidy for each domestic subsidized cylinders will be transferred to their Bank Accounts.

– To enjoy the modified Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme and also to enable you for ensuring your LPG subsidy in Bank, submit the xerox copy of your Aadhaar Card to your Bank as well as to your LPG distributor, if you have Aadhaar Card.
Or
If, you do not have Aadhaar Card, submit your bank account details to your LPG distributor and submit your LPG ID to your bank.

– For the purpose of PMJDY Scheme, an ATM/RuPay Card would be provided at the time of account opening. You can use this card for withdrawal of money at any Bank ATM 24 by 7. 

Additionally, this card will also have an inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh. After 6 months of satisfactory performances on the account, the Bank may optionally consider your performance and shall provide an Overdraft facility starting from Rs. 1000. On regular servicing of the overdraft interest the amount of overdraft may be increased upto Rs. 5000.

To avail the benefits of both the schemes mentioned above, it is to inform all the residents of Phek District that each and every household should have a saving Bank Account and the Bank Account for the above purposes should be opened before 15th March, 2015.

7285 - Delayed delivery of gas cylinders irks consumers - TNN

Delayed delivery of gas cylinders irks consumers

TNN | Jan 30, 2015, 01.59AM IST

HYDERABAD: Several cases of delayed delivery of gas cylinders were witnessed throughout January due to lack of delivery boys. 

LPG dealers said that a slew of festivals spread across the month prompted most of the gas delivery boys to take long vacations. 

"Since it was the festival season, many delivery boys had taken long vacation. Otherwise, the delivery would have been prompter," said Shrikanth, proprietor of a gas agency at Imarat. 

"However, people should not worry since dealers have adequate supply of gas cylinders" assistant manager, LPG Bharat Petroleum Corporation, R Umapathy said. 

At the same time, there have been complaints from residents that the delivery boys are charging exorbitant amounts as delivery charges. "If we refuse to pay the charges, they are willfully delaying the delivery to our house," said Venkat Ram, a resident of Safilguda. However, Shrikanth has a different take on the issue. "Usually, the delivery boys ask for some extra cash to round off the figure in a bid to avoid tendering exact change," he said. 

Adding to the consumers' woes, there have been a series of glitches that have been reported with the online software that links bank accounts with LPG benefits scheme. This comes after the government insisted on consumers giving their bank account numbers instead of the Aadhaar card number. 

"The government has come to the conclusion that since almost everyone has a bank account, the Modified Direct Benefits Transfer for LPG (MDBTL) be deposited into their accounts directly," said C Parthasarathi, commissioner, civil supplies department. 

However, consumers say that bankers were denying their request for linkage because of software problems in feeding and linking their accounts to the LPG numbers. The reason, according to bankers, that is their software is not accepting the 17-digit unique ID number provided for linkage by the authorities (for those who do not have Aadhaar card).

7228 - Sign up for DBTL at the earliest, oil cos urge LPG consumers

Sign up for DBTL at the earliest, oil cos urge LPG consumers

TNN | Jan 18, 2015, 12.19AM IST

Pune: Only 55% LPG customers have registered so far under the modified direct benefit transfer of LPG (MDBTL) scheme launched in the district on January 1. Oil marketing companies have urged consumers not to wait till the 'grace period' ends on March 31 and become cash transfer compliant as early as possible. 

The registration has been dismal so far, officials from the oil companies said. They said that while many consumers are citing the 'grace period' as the reason for not enrolling, the period is essentially meant for consumers who do not possess bank accounts and hence, cannot enrol for the scheme directly. 

The district collector had earlier decided to cut gas connections of those consumers who do not register in time for the MDBTL scheme launched by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. 

The oil company officials told TOI that the March 31 is mainly for consumers living below poverty the line (BPL) or in rural pockets who do not possess bank accounts. Consumers in cities who have bank accounts should not wait till the end of the grace period to register under the scheme, which is mandatory for all people who want to receive the subsidy. 

Cash transfer compliant (CTC) customers are those who are eligible to receive subsidies directly into their bank accounts. 

An oil marketing company official told TOI that the grace period was introduced in the earlier scheme as at that time, Aadhaar number linking was mandatory to become CTC. Since a lot of people did not possess Aadhaar cards at that time, a grace period of three months was provided from the launch of the scheme. 

"Since having an Aadhaar card is no longer necessary to be part of the modified scheme, the grace period now exists only for consumers not having bank accounts. In the meantime, others have to approach their distributors with a copy of the front page of their passbook and a cancelled cheque in order to link their bank accounts to their LPG ID and become cash transfer compliant customers," the official added.

7160 - Booked cylinders of Dec’14 which remain undelivered to come under DBTL scheme - TNN

Booked cylinders of Dec’14 which remain undelivered to come under DBTL scheme

TNN | Jan 4, 2015, 12.55AM IST

LUCKNOW: An LPG cylinder booked before December 31, 2014, but not delivered to the consumer will now come under Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme. This means that people will have to pay the non-subsidised rate for the cylinder booked in December but delivered in January. The subsidy amount of those who have enrolled themselves in the DBTL scheme will be credited to their bank accounts.

The DBTL scheme had to be launched from January 1, 2015. Under this, all LPG consumers had to link their bank account with their LPG connection. At present, less than 30% of the nine lakh consumers are cash transfer compliant (CTC), which means they are covered under DBTL. Oil companies have identified about 14,000 CTC consumers in Lucknow whose cylinder delivery is pending in the New Year.

These customers would now have to buy cylinders at non-subsidised rate of Rs 761 while one-time advance payment of Rs 568 will be credited into their account. Most CTC consumers haven't received payment despite booking cylinders many days ago. Dealers said the scheme was facing teething troubles as most banks have been unable to feed Aadhaar details in their database.

President of All India LPG Dealers Federation in UP, DP Singh, said, "Since all banks were busy during financial closing around December 31, they could not ensure linking all connections with Aadhaar details to bank accounts".

It is estimated that a total of 1,80,000 consumers have applied under DBTL scheme till date, of which bank accounts of approximately 97,000 consumers have still not been linked to the LPG connection.

Singh said banks will resolve the pending cases in the next three working days and have also assured to streamline the process of account linking after January 10. Meanwhile, many consumers have complained about not receiving subsidy credit timely into their account in spite of being under DBTL scheme. They claimed that the government had assured one-time advance payment of Rs 568 within 24 hours of booking. Dealers said due to month-end closing, banks could not ensure timely credit but gradually people have started getting subsidy credit.

7159 - The money is in your account - The Hindu

January 4, 2015

The money is in your account

N. RAVI KUMAR

Direct cash transfer of subsidies is poised to change the way welfare schemes are administered

Forget the debate on whether direct benefits transfer (DBT) is a reform or mere technology-driven procedural change, the fact is paying subsidies directly to beneficiaries is poised to change the way welfare schemes are administered.

A host of schemes have switched over to cash transfers, shows information available from the Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS). It ranges from scholarships and the National Rural Health Mission to stipends given by the Union Labour and Employment Ministry to students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. But one that has been generating considerable heat for some months is that for liquefied petroleum gas.

As in other DBT programmes, the intention here is to ensure subsidies reach those for whom they are intended — but the scale is much larger. The Petroleum Ministry says the DBT scheme for LPG that was rolled out across the country on January 1 will cover 15.3 crore active LPG consumers. “It will be the biggest direct cash transfer scheme in the world,” the Ministry says.

But the question that cries for an answer is whether the DBT is aimed at eventually cutting subsidies.

ICSSR National Fellow and Professor with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences G. Haragopal said cash transfer instead of subsidy was the brainchild of international finance organisations. The whole argument, he said, is built on the premise that any welfare programme is communism and hence negates capitalist development. Capitalists, he said, favour direct cash transfers as the beneficiary will look at it as an income and tend to use it elsewhere.

The subsidy reform is pertinent given the manner in which the Narendra Modi government not only pursued the DBT, ushered in by the previous dispensation, but also improvised it. So, when his government came up with the modified DBT, it caught many households unawares.

Those who expected the DBT to be given up and have the quota of 12 subsidised cylinders a year increased were particularly upset. Had the government wanted, it was within its reach with crude oil prices nose-diving by over $55 a barrel and falling further. But that would have meant undoing the gains achieved over the past two years, when changes such as a limit on the number of subsidised cylinders for households in a year and making Aadhaar mandatory for the subsidy credited to bank accounts of the user were introduced. Not having Aadhaar and requiring cylinders beyond the quota compelled consumers to purchase non-subsidised domestic cylinders, which cost almost twice as much. It also brought great pressure on a system that was struggling to issue Aadhaar cards, a mad rush for which stopped only when the courts intervened on the issue.

Learning from the experience, the government took a different course to achieve the same objective. Mr. Modi unveiled the Jan Dhan Yojana for financial inclusion by opening a bank account for every family. The scheme has received a good response with 10 crore accounts opened. It now serves as the foundation for DBT schemes.

Beyond efforts aimed at making those who can afford to voluntarily give up LPG subsidy, no attempt has been made to link the income level of the user and subsidised cooking gas eligibility, observers say.

Observers, however, say the DBT is just the beginning to address the issue of diversion of subsidised cylinders. Technically households with multiple connections could still continue to draw the subsidy, by seeding with different banks, but it is a matter of time before they are identified.

Forum for Good Governance vice-president Rao Chelikani feels it is time politicians gave up powers to dish out doles and woo voters with populist measures. Subsidy is good as long as it does not breed corruption, delay and inefficiency.

The task on hand, however, seems far from easy as evident from the confusion surrounding the common man as he gets pushed around from the gas agency to banks.

What is disconcerting is the manner in which senior citizens, widows living alone, daily wage earners and slum dwellers are made to run around, making many wonder if these changes are to curb the diversion of the cylinders and if it could not be stemmed through better enforcement.

Keywords: direct benefits transfer, Aadhaar card, UIDAI, technology-driven procedural change, Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System, DBT scheme for LPG

7158 - Link accounts for subsidy on LPG cylinders by March in Kolhapur - TNN

Link accounts for subsidy on LPG cylinders by March in Kolhapur

TNN | Jan 4, 2015, 04.47AM IST

As part of the MDBTL scheme, the cash subsidy is deposited in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, who will buy the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at market prices.

KOLHAPUR: The district administration has set a deadline of March 31 for LPG customers to have their Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts linked for receiving cash subsidy under the Modified Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (MDBTL) scheme. 

In case the customers do not have an Aadhaar number, they can still receive the subsidy provided their bank accounts and LPG consumer numbers are linked. 

As part of the MDBTL scheme, the cash subsidy is deposited in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, who will buy the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at market prices. 

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had launched the scheme in 2013, which could not move forward as planned, however, as it was made mandatory for consumers to link their Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts. The scheme has since been modified and renamed PAHAL or 'Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh'. 

The scheme now allows those who have not received their Aadhaar cards but have registered for the same to provide proof of their registration and have their accounts linked. The cash will then be transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries a week after they buy the cylinders. 

In the district so far, only 35.66% of LPG customers have linked their accounts under the scheme that started from January 1. There are about 23 gas agencies in the district, where Aadhaar enrolment counters have been set up. 

District supply officer (DSO) Vivek Agavane, said, "We have called the meetings with all the stakeholders of the scheme - officials of banks and LPG suppliers - to speed up the process of linking accounts." 

If a customer wants to go for the online process, the customers has to log on either to the website of the petroleum ministry (http:www.petroleum.nic.in) or that of the district administration (http:/Kolhapur.inc.in) for linking the Aadhaar number and the bank account. 

On the petroleum ministry's website, customers can enter their Aadhaar numbers along with their LPG consumer numbers for linking. Customers who do not have an Aadhaar number can either furnish their bank account information - including name, account number and IFSC code - to their LPG distributors, or give their 17-digit LPG consumer numbers to the bank. 

Of the total number of LPG connection holders in the district, 30.19% have linked their Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts, while only 5.47% of them have linked their LPG consumer numbers with their bank accounts. 

"We are going to complete the linking of the accounts before March 31. The Aadhar enrolment is underway and we will cover the LPG connection holders on the priority basis," said a district official on the condition of anonymity. 

In Nashik district last week, LPG distributors were accused of cancelling the bookings of customers who had not submitted their bank account or Aadhaar numbers for the direct benefit transfer scheme. 

The distributors were not only cancelling the customers' bookings, but were also claiming that it was done on the customers' request. District Supply Officer (DSO) Dnyaneshwar Jawanjal said the distributors had no right to cancel the delivery orders unless the customers were not at their residences as mentioned in the blue book (LPG book). 

"The distributors cannot cancel orders in any case and they cannot do so on their own. More importantly, the consumer has no choice of cancelling the delivery of a cylinder after booking it. So what the distributors are saying is invalid," the official had said, promising to look into the matter. 

The district supply office and sales officers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) companies later asked distributors not to cancel the refill orders of customers for non-compliance with the requirements of the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme. 

"After going through the complaints about wrong methods of coercing consumers to present their papers by arbitrarily cancelling the refill cylinder orders, we have asked officers of the companies to look into the case and stop such moves at once and ensure that no orders were cancelled," district supply officer Dnyanesh Jawanjal said. 

There were instances of refill orders of several LPG consumers being cancelled arbitrarily by the distributors. "There is no room for a customer to request cancellation of a refill order. Yet, the messages generated by the respective LPG companies to the customers were that the 'order was cancelled as per your request'. This means that the customer had applied for cancellation of the order. This is a lie," said Vandana Sonawane, a resident of Nashik Road who received the message. 

Jawanjal said the message was brought to the notice of the LPG companies, which went through it and confirmed the fact. "There were some distributors who had sent such messages for want of papers that the customers had not sent to them. But since there were no such orders to cancel the refill orders, we have asked the companies to monitor and take action against all the erring distributors," he added. 

The company officials also said they have asked the distributors from refraining to using the clause unless any customer had genuinely refused to take the delivery. 

7139 - Link your LPG connection to Aadhaar or bank a/c to keep getting subsidy - DNA

Link your LPG connection to Aadhaar or bank a/c to keep getting subsidyhttp://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-link-your-lpg-connection-to-aadhaar-or-bank-ac-to-keep-getting-subsidy-2048799

Friday, 2 January 2015 - 7:30am IST | Agency: dna

If you have not linked your gas connection to your Aadhaar number or bank account, please hasten to do so as the Modified Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (MDBTL) has been launched.

Here, LPG consumers who have linked their connections to their Aadhaar cards or bank accounts will have to purchase gas cylinders at market prices. The difference between the market price and the subsidised rate will be transferred to their bank accounts via the linking of the Aadhaar number to the LPG consumer number and bank account or directly to the account without any Aadhaar seeding.

LPG consumers will get a three-month grace period during which those who have joined the scheme will get the subsidy in their bank accounts and others who have not registered will continue to get cylinders at subsidised rate. Those who do not join the scheme even after the three-month grace period will be eligible for an additional subsidy parking period of another three months during which they will get cylinders at market price and the subsidy due will be credited to their bank account as they enrol for the scheme during this period. After this tenure, consumers who have still not joined the scheme will see this amount lapse and get cooking gas at the market-determined price. Once they join the scheme, they will get the subsidy with prospective effect.

Controller of rationing and director of civil supplies Shweta Singhal said the MDBTL scheme was being rolled out in the state from Thursday. Mumbai city and suburbs have 58.5 lakh LPG consumers, while the number in Thane is 17.5 lakh. "Of this, around 40% have already submitted their forms," she added, saying the forms are available at gas agencies and rationing offices. Officials said of this 40% around a fourth had linked their connections to Aadhaar numbers.

In June 2013, the UPA government had launched the scheme, which was linked to the UIDAI numbers. However, the BJP government renamed the scheme as PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh) and modified it to make Aadhaar optional and include the seeding of an LPG connection to a bank account. This was meant to cover those who have not registered for Aadhaar. However, once they get the UIDAI numbers, they will have to shift to an Aadhaar-based cash transfer. The scheme also allows people to opt out of receiving the LPG subsidy altogether.

The scheme aims at plugging diversion of highly subsidised LPG cylinders meant for domestic use to other purposes. It was rolled out in 54 districts covering 2.33 crore households in the country from November 15, including Wardha and Amravati in Maharashtra, which have the highest Aadhaar coverage in the state, while the rest of the country, including the Mumbai-Thane rationing area, has been brought under its ambit from Thursday. The first phase covered districts with over 95% Aadhaar generation.

"There were a lot of complaints in the previous scheme (which covered only Aadhaar holders)," admitted president of All-India LPG Distributors Federation Pratap Doshi.

"It is the responsibility of the respective oil marketing companies to (ensure) that the money comes to the (consumers') account," said Singhal, adding that consumers who had completed the seeding process and received the cash subsidy did not need to register again.

Consumers who have complaints in enrolment can contact the helpline on 022-22852814.