The move, which shows the government’s policy intent to make Aadhaar mandatory for receipt of assorted sops, comes almost a year after the Supreme Court’s interim order, allowing the use of Aadhaar for public distribution system (PDS) and LPG subsidy deliveries.
The Centre has asked oil marketing companies (OMCs) not to transfer LPG subsidy to the bank accounts of eligible households unless their accounts are seeded with the unique identification number, Aadhaar. The move, which shows the government’s policy intent to make Aadhaar mandatory for receipt of assorted sops, comes almost a year after the Supreme Court’s interim order, allowing the use of Aadhaar for public distribution system (PDS) and LPG subsidy deliveries.
“From 1.7.2016, subsidy will only be transferred to the eligible customer having Aadhaar seeding (sic); subsidy for the (bank transfer compliant) customers who have not seeded Aadhaar will be kept on hold till 30.9.2016 after which the parked subsidy will lapse and the customer would not be eligible for subsidy of the refills consumed after 1.10.2016 till he submits Aadhaar to his/her LPG distributor,” said a note sent by the petroleum ministry to OMCs on June 30.
The direction is valid for the entire country except Assam and Meghalaya. While the SC had ruled against making Aadhaar mandatory for receipt of benefits from the government, it allowed the use of the UID on a voluntary basis for specified schemes. After LPG and PDS schemes, it had in October last year, extended the facility to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, passed by Parliament during the Budget session in the wake of the Supreme Court’s interim order against making Aadhaar mandatory, the Centre or state “may” require individuals getting government benefits to undergo authentication or furnish Aadhaar number. However, the petroleum ministry’s latest move takes the policy even further by making Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts compulsory for the LPG subsidy.
The petroleum ministry order adds that if the customer submits Aadhaar after July 1 and before September 30, his or her subsidies, if any, will be linked to his bank account and the consumer will start receiving them thereafter. Currently, there are more than 17 crore domestic cooking gas consumers. Of this, 15.8 crore have been added to PAHAL (direct benefit transfer for LPG subsidy) scheme. Nearly, two crore cooking gas consumers have not seeded their Aadhaar number with the bank accounts.
The subsidy on a 14.2-kg domestic refill dropped to Rs 63.91 starting August 1 against Rs 116.34 in the previous month.
The Union Budget has provided Rs 26,947 crore for fuel subsidy in the current fiscal, which consists of Rs 19, 803 crore for LPG and Rs 7,144 crore for kerosene.
Narendra Modi government removing LPG subsidy by stealth; here’s how
Taking a cue from the previous UPA government that decontrolled diesel in this manner, the Modi government has upped the prices of subsidised (domestic) LPG refills by around R2 for the second straight month, an attempt to move towards market-determined pricing of the fuel.
After diesel and lately kerosene, subsidy on LPG is also being eased out, in small, virtually unnoticeable steps, reports Siddhartha P Saikia in New Delhi. Taking a cue from the previous UPA government that decontrolled diesel in this manner, the Modi government has upped the prices of subsidised (domestic) LPG refills by around Rs 2 for the second straight month, an attempt to move towards market-determined pricing of the fuel.
Since June, the Modi government has hiked (subsidised) PDS kerosene prices by 25 paise per litre every month.
The price of subsidised domestic cooking gas in Delhi was revised to Rs 423.09 per refill effective August 1, against the Rs 421.16 rate that prevailed in July. In the previous month, LPG cost Rs 419.18 per refill in the capital. Similar hikes in the fuel’s price are effected across the country.
However, neither the petroleum ministry nor any other wing of the government has openly acknowledged the policy of monthly price hikes in PDS kerosene and LPG to weed out subsidy. Thanks to the PAHAL (direct benefit transfer) scheme for LPG subsidy, 3.5 crore bogus connections got eliminated and the Give-It-Up campaign led to over 1 crore people surrendering the subsidy.
With both petrol and diesel decontrolled, the share of LPG and kerosene in oil marketing companies’ under-recoveries has surged in recent years — from about 25% in FY13 to 58% in FY16 for LPG and 18% to 42% during the period for kerosene.
According to the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, the subsidy on a 14.2-kg domestic LPG refill has dropped to Rs 63.91 on August 1 from Rs 116.34 in the previous month.
The Union Budget has provided Rs 26,947 crore for fuel subsidy in the current fiscal, which consists of Rs 19,803 crore for LPG and Rs 7,144 crore for kerosene.
The government had decided to provide a fixed subsidy of R18 a kg under the direct benefit transfer for domestic LPG during April-October 2015, which was revised to R15 per kg in November 2015. The average subsidy on domestic LPG reduced by about 63% to Rs 11.08 a kg in FY16 against Rs 29.63 per kg in FY15. This made the government revise the provision for LPG subsidy downwards by Rs 3 per kg. The benchmark Brent crude oil price fell nearly 44% to an average of $48.73 per barrel in FY16 against $86.6 a barrel in FY15.
‘PMUY will reduce cooking drudgery, indoor pollution’
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan explained the modalities of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana while addressing a large gathering at Mathura. He said, “The scheme would impact the lives of women from BPL families in a major way by reducing the drudgery of cooking with polluting fuels and go a long way in reducing indoor pollution and other health related problems”.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) was launched. He said that MoPNG is committed towards 100 per cent LPG penetration in Mathura district, for both BPL and APL families. He further said that in the last 100 days around 50 lakh LPG connections under PMUY scheme have already been distributed.
He also appreciated IndianOil’s role in setting up of the Effluent Treatment Plant at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore in Mathura and joining hands with Ministry of Water Resources. “The Sewage Treatment Plant will convert the solid waste cleaned from polluted Yamuna water into energy for industrial and agricultural use”, he added.
While addressing the gathering, Union Minister, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari said that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an excellent scheme and it fulfills the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean fuel to BPL families and is a boon to women to experience cooking without smoke. Uma Bharati thanked Dharmendra Pradhan, for signing the MoU for setting up of an Effluent Treatment Plant and using the treated water for use in IndianOil’sl Mathura Refinery.
Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken a series of welfare oriented schemes. Prime Minister in his address on 27th March 2015 had made an appeal to well-to-do families to give up their subsidy on LPG connections so that the money thus saved can be utilised for giving connections to less privileged homes. Taking the appeal forward, MOP&NG launched the ‘Give It Up’ campaign and in over an year’s time more than 1 crore people across the country from all walks of life, including those from middle class have come forward to support this initiative bringing smiles to a million homes.
Another scheme by petroleum ministry, under the guidance of had received worldwide recognition is the immensely successful “PAHAL Yojana”. This direct cash transfer scheme effectively curbed the leakage of LPG subsidies, ensuring a more focused reach. The scheme has been highly effective in eliminating duplicate LPG connections.
The “PAHAL” scheme has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cash transfer program (households) in the world. Currently, close to 16 crore LPG customers are receiving their subsidy directly in to their bank accounts. With 2016 being declared as the ‘Year of Consumers’ by Dharmendra Pradhan, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has ensured that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) offer customer centric offerings like Sahaj – the online booking and release of new connections, the online booking and payment for LPG refills, ‘1906’- the 24x7 LPG leakage Emergency telephone helpline, to name a few.
The Centre has asked oil marketing companies (OMCs) not to transfer LPG subsidy to the bank accounts of eligible households unless their accounts are seeded with the unique identification number, Aadhaar. The move, which shows the government’s policy intent to make Aadhaar mandatory for receipt of assorted sops, comes almost a year after the Supreme Court’s interim order, allowing the use of Aadhaar for public distribution system (PDS) and LPG subsidy deliveries.
“From 1.7.2016, subsidy will only be transferred to the eligible customer having Aadhaar seeding (sic); subsidy for the (bank transfer compliant) customers who have not seeded Aadhaar will be kept on hold till 30.9.2016 after which the parked subsidy will lapse and the customer would not be eligible for subsidy of the refills consumed after 1.10.2016 till he submits Aadhaar to his/her LPG distributor,” said a note sent by the petroleum ministry to OMCs on June 30.
The direction is valid for the entire country except Assam and Meghalaya. While the SC had ruled against making Aadhaar mandatory for receipt of benefits from the government, it allowed the use of the UID on a voluntary basis for specified schemes. After LPG and PDS schemes, it had in October last year, extended the facility to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, passed by Parliament during the Budget session in the wake of the Supreme Court’s interim order against making Aadhaar mandatory, the Centre or state “may” require individuals getting government benefits to undergo authentication or furnish Aadhaar number. However, the petroleum ministry’s latest move takes the policy even further by making Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts compulsory for the LPG subsidy.
The petroleum ministry order adds that if the customer submits Aadhaar after July 1 and before September 30, his or her subsidies, if any, will be linked to his bank account and the consumer will start receiving them thereafter. Currently, there are more than 17 crore domestic cooking gas consumers. Of this, 15.8 crore have been added to PAHAL (direct benefit transfer for LPG subsidy) scheme. Nearly, two crore cooking gas consumers have not seeded their Aadhaar number with the bank accounts.
The subsidy on a 14.2-kg domestic refill dropped to Rs 63.91 starting August 1 against Rs 116.34 in the previous month.
The Union Budget has provided Rs 26,947 crore for fuel subsidy in the current fiscal, which consists of Rs 19, 803 crore for LPG and Rs 7,144 crore for kerosene.
Narendra Modi government removing LPG subsidy by stealth; here’s how
Taking a cue from the previous UPA government that decontrolled diesel in this manner, the Modi government has upped the prices of subsidised (domestic) LPG refills by around R2 for the second straight month, an attempt to move towards market-determined pricing of the fuel.
After diesel and lately kerosene, subsidy on LPG is also being eased out, in small, virtually unnoticeable steps, reports Siddhartha P Saikia in New Delhi. Taking a cue from the previous UPA government that decontrolled diesel in this manner, the Modi government has upped the prices of subsidised (domestic) LPG refills by around Rs 2 for the second straight month, an attempt to move towards market-determined pricing of the fuel.
Since June, the Modi government has hiked (subsidised) PDS kerosene prices by 25 paise per litre every month.
The price of subsidised domestic cooking gas in Delhi was revised to Rs 423.09 per refill effective August 1, against the Rs 421.16 rate that prevailed in July. In the previous month, LPG cost Rs 419.18 per refill in the capital. Similar hikes in the fuel’s price are effected across the country.
However, neither the petroleum ministry nor any other wing of the government has openly acknowledged the policy of monthly price hikes in PDS kerosene and LPG to weed out subsidy. Thanks to the PAHAL (direct benefit transfer) scheme for LPG subsidy, 3.5 crore bogus connections got eliminated and the Give-It-Up campaign led to over 1 crore people surrendering the subsidy.
With both petrol and diesel decontrolled, the share of LPG and kerosene in oil marketing companies’ under-recoveries has surged in recent years — from about 25% in FY13 to 58% in FY16 for LPG and 18% to 42% during the period for kerosene.
According to the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell, the subsidy on a 14.2-kg domestic LPG refill has dropped to Rs 63.91 on August 1 from Rs 116.34 in the previous month.
The Union Budget has provided Rs 26,947 crore for fuel subsidy in the current fiscal, which consists of Rs 19,803 crore for LPG and Rs 7,144 crore for kerosene.
The government had decided to provide a fixed subsidy of R18 a kg under the direct benefit transfer for domestic LPG during April-October 2015, which was revised to R15 per kg in November 2015. The average subsidy on domestic LPG reduced by about 63% to Rs 11.08 a kg in FY16 against Rs 29.63 per kg in FY15. This made the government revise the provision for LPG subsidy downwards by Rs 3 per kg. The benchmark Brent crude oil price fell nearly 44% to an average of $48.73 per barrel in FY16 against $86.6 a barrel in FY15.
‘PMUY will reduce cooking drudgery, indoor pollution’
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan explained the modalities of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana while addressing a large gathering at Mathura. He said, “The scheme would impact the lives of women from BPL families in a major way by reducing the drudgery of cooking with polluting fuels and go a long way in reducing indoor pollution and other health related problems”.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) was launched. He said that MoPNG is committed towards 100 per cent LPG penetration in Mathura district, for both BPL and APL families. He further said that in the last 100 days around 50 lakh LPG connections under PMUY scheme have already been distributed.
He also appreciated IndianOil’s role in setting up of the Effluent Treatment Plant at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore in Mathura and joining hands with Ministry of Water Resources. “The Sewage Treatment Plant will convert the solid waste cleaned from polluted Yamuna water into energy for industrial and agricultural use”, he added.
While addressing the gathering, Union Minister, Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari said that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an excellent scheme and it fulfills the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean fuel to BPL families and is a boon to women to experience cooking without smoke. Uma Bharati thanked Dharmendra Pradhan, for signing the MoU for setting up of an Effluent Treatment Plant and using the treated water for use in IndianOil’sl Mathura Refinery.
Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken a series of welfare oriented schemes. Prime Minister in his address on 27th March 2015 had made an appeal to well-to-do families to give up their subsidy on LPG connections so that the money thus saved can be utilised for giving connections to less privileged homes. Taking the appeal forward, MOP&NG launched the ‘Give It Up’ campaign and in over an year’s time more than 1 crore people across the country from all walks of life, including those from middle class have come forward to support this initiative bringing smiles to a million homes.
Another scheme by petroleum ministry, under the guidance of had received worldwide recognition is the immensely successful “PAHAL Yojana”. This direct cash transfer scheme effectively curbed the leakage of LPG subsidies, ensuring a more focused reach. The scheme has been highly effective in eliminating duplicate LPG connections.
The “PAHAL” scheme has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest cash transfer program (households) in the world. Currently, close to 16 crore LPG customers are receiving their subsidy directly in to their bank accounts. With 2016 being declared as the ‘Year of Consumers’ by Dharmendra Pradhan, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has ensured that Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) offer customer centric offerings like Sahaj – the online booking and release of new connections, the online booking and payment for LPG refills, ‘1906’- the 24x7 LPG leakage Emergency telephone helpline, to name a few.
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