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TOTAL CHAOS
TOTAL CHAOS. LPG consumers are facing a lot of difficulties in getting refills in time. The DBT scheme, which requires them to pay the full amount upfront pending credit of the subsidy component to their account, has made matters worse, as the money is not usually credited as soon as the customer pays for the cylinder.
Agonising wait for LPG refill and subsidy amount. No clarity yet on SC order delinking Aadhaar
• DBT compounds woes of consumers
• Four lakh requests for cylinders pending as of September 28
• 30% of cylinders returned by those unwilling to pay the full price up front without immediate
subsidy credit...
A major crisis is looming in homes across the Greater Hyderabad region as the introduction of DBT (direct benefit transfer) scheme, which involves crediting the subsidy amount directly to an Aadhaar-linked account of the consumer, has backfired, with about one-third of the people booking cylinders returning the refills to agencies that have defaulted in regard to payment of the subsidy component.
LPG consumers are facing a lot of difficulties in getting refills in time. The DBT scheme, which requires them to pay the full amount upfront pending credit of the subsidy component to their account, has made matters worse, as the money is not usually credited as soon as the customer pays for the cylinder. There is undue delay in the supply of cylinders. The delay is attributed to frequent breakdowns in servers, thus making a mockery of online booking.
That apart, consumers are being forced to run after their bank and LPG agency to know the fate of their subsidy, which, as per rules, is required to be credited as soon as the cylinder is dispatched. “I got my refill on September 3, but till now, I have not received the subsidy amount,” says Nitin, a customer of IOC (Indane). There are hundreds like him who have no idea when they would receive their subsidy component. All of this has led to a chaos in the supply chain of LPG cylinders.
The plight of households that have a single cylinder and are dependent on kerosene is worse, as kerosene is selling almost at the price of diesel.
Amidst all this, the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday that the Aadhaar numbers/cards should not be the sole proof for availing of various schemes of Central and State governments and the Centre’s submission that the Aadhaar card was voluntary has added to the confusion, as the oil marketing companies have gone ahead with the ‘mandatory’ implementation of Aadhaar-linked subsidy.
When contacted, Sunil Sharma, Civil Supplies Commissioner, told Hyderabad Hans: “We are waiting for the green light from the government to implement the Supreme Court’s decision regarding not linking the supply with Aadhaar Card.”
This being so, LPG dealers are planning to hold a dharna shortly to highlight various issues, including the operational difficulties of implementing the subsidy scheme.
Whether linked to Aadhaar or not, the refill has now become pricey. Customers have to shell out Rs 1024.50 for each cylinder, hoping that the subsidy would be credited to their bank account. In the case of cylinders returned by consumers not wanting to pay the full amount in the absence of assured credit of the subsidy amount immediately upon dispatch of cylinders, the agencies are forced to cancel bills generated. There are also cases where customers have booked again after rejecting cylinders in the hope that the new booking would come with the subsidy.
Pending cylinders
There are about 25.38 lakh LPG customers in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts. Three oil companies (IOC, BPL and HPCL) provide LPG cylinders with a network of 135 dealers in all. Every oil company, on an average, gets 50,000 calls for refills per day. The supply of gas cylinders normally meets 70-80% of the calls received, depending on distance, availability of refills and other factors. Over the last week, there were 20-30 % of cylinders that were not taken. As of Saturday, about four lakh customers were waiting for refills, having booked them weeks before.
“Cylinders are not being taken by customers, citing that subsidy amount has not been credited yet. This amounts to 30% of the cylinders. We are forced to cancel the generated bills and when the subsidy amount is credited, they are booking online again. This is the reason for pending cylinders and there isn’t much of a difference in demand and supply,” said Ashok, president, Gas Dealers Association.
Recently the government decreased the quota of kerosene from 4 litres to 1 litre for all the white card holders. The price of kerosene ranges between Rs 45 and Rs 50 per litre.
“Refills usually come after 10 days. They do promise us in the ads that refill doesn’t take more that 3 days, but on ground, this isn’t happening. We have to depend on kerosene and the quota has been reduced,” said Manemma, a housemaid.
