Direct transfer of LPG subsidy begins in 18 districts

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The direct transfer of cooking gas subsidy into the bank accounts of consumers was rolled out across 18 districts of the country from the beginning of this month, an official said Thursday.

While the direct benefit transfer (DBT) programme was formally launched in Tumkur district of Karnataka, the transfer began in 18 districts simultaneously on the midnight of June 1, an official said.

The districts where Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) subsidy through DBT has commenced are Anantapur, Chittor, East Godavari, Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Diu, North Goa, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Tumkur, Pathanamthitta, Waynad, Wardha, Puducherry, Nawan Shehar, Khandwa and Harda.

These districts have almost 60 lakh LPG consumers. The introduction of DBT in two districts - Mysore in Karnataka and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh - was postponed because of the pre-poll model code of conduct in force there.

The system put in place is that all LPG consumers with Aadhaar numbers and whose bank accounts are seeded with Aadhaar numbers would be given an advance amount of Rs.435 per cylinder booked, immediately on booking a cylinder.

This amount would be credited automatically in their accounts. They would be supplied LPG cylinders at the market price. The net effect on them is nil as their net cash outflow is equal to the subsidized price of an LPG cylinder, the official said.

He added that consumers who do not have Aadhaar seeded bank accounts continue to get LPG cylinders at subsidized rates. They have been given a short period of time for seeding their bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers.

The oil marketing companies are making renewed efforts to collect the bank account details of LPG consumers to be given to banks for seeding.

In the first three working days of June, over one lakh LPG consumers who booked cylinders have received the advance.

Till the evening of June 4, 1.145 lakh DBT transactions amounting to Rs.4.95 crore were completed. Almost 30,000 DBT transactions are being executed every day. The failure rates are below 0.5 percent, an official said.