Good Initiative for Transparency

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. more