A few days ago, I received a call from the local liquified petroleum gas (LPG) gas agency for KYC (know-your-customer). The agency sent a person with a mobile to do live eKYC with Aadhaar. When I asked about the need for Aadhaar eKYC, I was told it is as per the orders. Responding to my calls, a person from the gas agency told me this is being done for direct benefit transfer (DBT) of subsidy for LPG refill. When I said I had never applied for or taken any subsidy for the LPG refill, I was told that eKYC is mandatory for all customers. When I refused to do Aadhaar eKYC, the gas agency threatened to close my LPG connection.
I filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) as well as with the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG). As expected, the central public information officer (CPIO) of HPCL told me that "HPCL has not issued any notification or instructions to authorised gas agencies asking them to update the KYC of customers only through Aadhaar eKYC."
This became funnier because I received a completely different reply from the same CPIO for my RTI filed with the MoPNG. In my RTI, I had asked for "a copy of the notification or instructions sent by the MoPNG to all oil marketing companies, especially to HPCL, asking to update the KYC of customers only through Aadhaar eKYC. If no such notification or instructions are issued by MoPNG on mandatory Aadhaar eKYC, then kindly state so.”
However, instead of responding to my RTI, the CPIO of the ministry forwarded the application to HPCL! Even considering this as a bizarre manner, the CPIO of HPCL gave a completely different answer. It may be because I had asked for information from the CPIO of MoPNG and the CPIO of HPCL, as a public authority will not have any access to information available at the ministry.
When Sandeep Hegde, co-founder of ArecaCounty, received an SMS from HPCL for eKYC, he also filed an RTI application. Responding to his query on mandatory eKYC, the CPIO told him that eKYC is mandatory for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (PAHAL) beneficiaries.
Responding to Mr Hegde's query on the official circular, notification of law about the eKYC requirement from the customer, the CPIO says, "HPCL is not the originator of the documents and HPCL is having a fiduciary relationship with MoPNG. Hence, the documents are denied under clause 8(1)(e) of RTI Act."
A few days ago,
MoPNG came up with a clarification on the biometric Aadhaar authentication of LPG consumers. It says, "Oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been diligently implementing biometric Aadhaar authentication processes for LPG customers. More than 55% of PMUY beneficiaries have already completed their biometric Aadhaar authentication. It is also clarified that no service or benefit has been stopped for consumers whose biometric authentication has not been completed."
However, what the release from the ministry does not clearly state is that Aadhaar eKYC is not mandatory for all LPG customers but only for those who are availing DBT under PMUY or PAHAL. It says, "Domestic LPG consumers can complete the biometric Aadhaar authentication during LPG cylinder deliveries by visiting their LPG distributor or using mobile apps provided by OMCs."
It says the standard operating procedure (SOP) of PMUY mentions biometric authentication as a prerequisite for applying for a new connection. "Significant numbers of biometric Aadhaar authentications (more than 35 lakh PMUY beneficiaries) were successfully conducted during Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra camps. Authentication activities are being undertaken as a part of LPG safety inspections or camps, which are currently undergoing."
"To further augment the authentication of consumers, MoPNG in October 2023 had issued directions to OMCs to undertake and complete biometric Aadhaar authentication of PMUY and PAHAL beneficiaries," it added.
These directions show that Aadhaar eKYC is not mandatory for all LPG customers, except those who are availing subsidies under PMUY and PAHAL schemes.
In May 2016, the Union government launched the Ujjwala Yojana-PMUY to provide deposit-free LPG connections to adult women from poor households. While the connection was provided for free, the beneficiaries (poor households) had to purchase LPG refills at the current market price.
In July 2022, the government told the Rajya Sabha that out of India's total number of LPG customers of 309.5mn (million), more than 21.1mn did not buy a single refill during fiscal 2022. According to data shared by the government, during FY21-22, nearly 16.2mn beneficiaries of PMUY took a single LPG refill. The number of Ujjwala beneficiaries who took two and three refills during the year was 14.9mn and 49.5mn, respectively.
The reason is quite obvious. The retail price of LPG refill jumped 113% to Rs884.5 per cylinder in October 2021 from Rs414 a cylinder in April 2014. Further, under the burden-sharing programme, the Union government cut down price support (either through a price discount or as DBT) to Rs140 per cylinder in July 2019 from Rs435 per cylinder in November 2018.
According to data from the petroleum planning & analysis cell (PPAC), the last subsidy payout for domestic LPG in the form of DBT was made in July 2019. After that, there is no record of any LPG subsidy payout from the government.
Following the lacklustre response from Ujjawal beneficiaries in buying an LPG refill due to higher costs, in May 2022, the government gave a Rs200 per cylinder subsidy to PMUY beneficiaries, which was raised to Rs300 in October 2023.
Before the general elections, on 7 March 2024, the Union Cabinet sanctioned a targeted subsidy of Rs300 per 14.2kg LPG cylinder (and proportionately for 5kg cylinders) for PMUY beneficiaries. This subsidy, approved a day before International Women's Day, will cover up to 12 refills per year during FY24-25.
Since launching PAHAL or PMUY, the Union government has claimed huge savings due to DBT for these schemes. However, in August 2016, the country's auditor exposed that very little savings can be attributed to overhauling the scheme. Most of the savings were due to a drop in oil prices. In a report, the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) said 92% of the Rs23,316.21 crore the government saved in subsidy payout in FY15-16 occurred due to a drop in crude oil prices and both the government and oil marketing companies had overstated savings under the scheme.
CAG also pulled up the government and OMCs for inconsistencies in the estimates for DBTL savings. The government estimated savings from PAHAL to be Rs9,211 crore, while OMCs estimate it to be around Rs5,107.48 crore in FY15-16.
"The difference came about because the MoPNG assumed that blocked consumers, who were not eligible for subsidy, would have availed their entire quota of 12 cylinders against the national per capita average of 6.27 cylinders in FY14-15. Considering the national average offtake of 6.27 cylinders, the estimated savings in subsidy for FY15-16 would be Rs4,813 crore," the report said.
You may also want to read...
I make the phone call to agency for delink of aadhar but they didn't not do. I make complainant on IOC website but till now it can not be done. Now, my native place agency asking for KYC which cannot be completed without Delink from agency where I was last posted.
The native place agency is giving me the required cylinder.
What action can I take to Delink the aadhaar from agency where the connection is completely surrounded?
Please suggest.