1.54 lakh LPG consumers in Indore losing out on subsidy

More than 20% domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumers in Indore district, who have failed to link their bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Trasnfer (DBT), will have to shell out extra for buying the cylinders.

Even as the deadline for linking the bank account with LPG connection expired on April 1, about 1.54 lakh households of 7.7 lakh registered LPG connections in the district are yet to comply with the government directive.

"These consumers will now have to pay full amount until their accounts are linked," said Kapil Rai, the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited sales official and nodal officer for DBT scheme in Indore district.

The price for a non-subsidised LPG cylinder is Rs 683, while a subsidised cylinder sells Rs 455.

"Indore district has about 3.3 lakh registered Indane gas connections, 2.5 lakh HP Gas connections and 1.9 lakh Bharat Gas connections. Data received from all the three companies shows that roughly 20% of consumers have not availed of this facility so far," he said.

Direct benefit transfer scheme, also known as PAHAL, is an initiative to replace subsidised goods with electronic transfers of subsidy amounts to beneficiary bank accounts.

Under this scheme, households are required to place an order of LPG cylinder from their LPG distributor, pay the full (unsubsidised) market price for the cylinder in cash on delivery, and then receive a payment equivalent to the current subsidy amount via electronic transfer.

The Union petroleum ministry has made the process to link the bank accounts more stringent. It now takes 10-15 days to link the account as against three to four days before March 31.

However, the government has given one last chance to those who have not linked the bank account to save on the subsidy amount.

"There is a three-month 'parking period' until June 30 when the LPG subsidy will be provided but not disbursed until the bank account is linked. But consumers who have not linked the bank account even then will lose out on subsidy from July 1 onwards," Rai said.