The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dr M Veerappa Moily has given go ahead to roll out  Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme in 35 more high Aadhaar coverage districts on 01-09-2013 in the existing DBTL States. With this total number of districts to be covered by DBTL Scheme comes to 55.  Further, roll will be announced after considered view is arrived at.  This will  add about  1.4 crore LPG consumers in these 35 districts taking total number of LPG consumers to 2.12 crore  to fall in the ambit of  DBTL for receiving LPG subsidy directly in their bank accounts.

The districts which will be covered on 01-09-2013 are, 12 in Kerala, 7 districts in Andhra Pradesh, 7  in Himachal Pradesh, 5 in Punjab, 2 Madhya Pradesh and one each in Maharashtra & Goa (details given in Annexure).

The DBTL scheme has been a resounding success which was launched on 1-6-2013 in 18 districts and on 1-7-2013 in Mysore(Karnataka) district and on 1-8-2013 in Mandi district (Himachal Pradesh) to cover 20 high Aadhaar coverage districts in  8 States and 2 UTs. About 4 million direct cash transfers have been effected to consumers’ bank accounts  by  09.08.2013. These transactions amounted to Rs. 150.6 Crore  transferred in the hands of LPG Consumers in these districts.

Government of India had envisaged launch of Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme with an aim to curb leakages and prevent black-marketing and provide subsidy to consumers in their bank accounts.  In these  districts the subsidy on LPG cylinders is being provided directly to consumers in their Aadhaar linked bank accounts.

All Aadhaar linked domestic LPG consumers get an advance of Rs 435 in their bank account as soon as they book the first subsidized cylinder before delivery. As soon as, the first subsidized cylinder is delivered to such consumers, the next subsidy will again get credited in their bank account, which can then be available for the purchase of the next subsidized cylinder at market rate.

After the launch of the Scheme on 1-06-2013,  all LPG consumers in 18 districts who have not linked their Aadhaar number to LPG consumer number and their bank account have been given a grace period to do so till 31-08-2013. During this period they are continuing to get the LPG cylinders at subsidized rate, up to the cap of 9 cylinders. In Mysore the grace period ends on 30-9-2013 and in Mandi it ends on 31-10-2013

After the end of grace period, LPG cylinders will be sold to all domestic LPG consumers at market price. However, the subsidy will be transferred to only those who have linked Aadhaar  number to LPG consumer number and Bank account and others will not get any subsidy.

DBTL Scheme ensures that the benefit reaches intended beneficiary thereby curbing wastage/ leakage in the subsidy delivery system. In order to get LPG subsidy directly in to their bank accounts, all LPG consumers are advised to immediately do the following:

                        1. Get an Aadhaar number if they don’t have one at Aadhaar enrollment centers.

                        2. Open a bank account with the above Aadhaar number if they do not have one.

OR

If they already have a bank account then they must get their Aadhaar number linked with their bank account by visiting the branch of the bank. They can also fill up a form available with LPG distributors and deposit it in the drop boxes placed at LPG distributors’ premises/ select Petrol Pump outlets for this purpose.

3. Link  Aadhaar numbers to LPG consumer number at LPG distributors (see website below).

            After completing the above three steps, LPG consumers can check whether their Aadhaar number has been linked to LPG consumer number and bank account at following website link:

http://petroleum.nic.in/dbtl/linkstatus.html

 Moreover,  Oil Marketing Companies(OMCs) have also provided the facility on their websites to check whether the Aadhaar number has been attached to LPG consumer number/bank account.

 For feedback and for registering a complaint, customers can call on the Tollfree number 18002333555 or visit their websites www.indane.co.in,  www.ebharatgas.com or www.hpgas.com.

More over, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Ministry of Finance (MOF) and UIDAI have taken several initiatives to make the processes simpler and to expand the reach of DBTL to all LPG consumers. The MoPNG along with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and Banks have undertaken multipronged efforts to educate the consumers to link their Aadhaar numbers to LPG consumer number and in bank account. Following steps have been taken to increase Aadhaar seeding in LPG and Banks:

·                Advertisements released in leading dailies.

·                Drop boxes to collect Bank-Aadhaar linking forms  placed at all distributorships/ROs and handing over to Lead District Managers for Banks.

·                Bank-Aadhaar linking forms being distributed to customers who have not yet linked Aadhaar to their bank accounts.

·                Delivery Boys are informing customers about need for Aadhaar linking while delivering refills.

·                Showroom staff are informing customers while receiving booking for refills

·                Cash Memos are being stamped to communicate need for Aadhaar linkage to get subsidy in bank account.

·                An Incentive scheme has been announced by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to encourage distributors to seed Aadhaar numbers in LPG database.

RCJ/DBTL-II

Annexure

List 35 Districts to be covered from 01-09-2013

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Annexure –II

List of 20 Districts where Scheme is Operational