After 3 months, consumers to get LPG cylinders at market price

Consumers of LPG cylinders across Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (HP) will get three months to become cash transfer compliant (CTC) consumers after the formal launch of the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme in their respective districts. Hitender Rao reports

Consumers of LPG cylinders across Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (HP) will get three months to become cash transfer compliant (CTC) consumers after the formal launch of the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme in their respective districts.

HT Image

In case they do not become CTC consumers within the stipulated period, they will get LPG cylinders at full market price.An LPG consumer who has linked his Aadhaar number to both LPG consumer number and bank account is called a cash transfer compliant (CTC) consumer.

Neeraj Mittal, joint secretary (marketing), union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, told HT that the DBTL's phase-2 would be formally launched from October 1 in Chandigarh, two Haryana districts (Ambala and Sonepat), nine Punjab districts (Amritsar, Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Moga, Patiala, Rupnagar and Sangrur) and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh.

"We have already launched the DBTL phase-1 from September 1 in five Punjab districts (Barnala, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar and Ludhiana) and six HP districts (Kangra, Chamba, Kullu, Solan, Sirmour and Shimla)," Mittal said.

Explaining, the DBTL scheme, he said that it aimed at improving subsidy administration of LPG across the country. "As per the DBTL, a consumer will get LPG cylinder at full market price (excluding VAT). The difference between the subsidised price and full market price, the subsidy, will be transferred directly to the consumer's bank account," he said.

Mittal said that to become eligible for the scheme, consumers would have to become CTC consumers by first getting their Aadhaar number and then linking it to LPG consumer numbers and bank accounts.

After completing these three steps, the CTC consumers will start receiving LPG subsidy directly in their bank accounts. The CTC consumers will get money in advance to buy their first subsidised cylinder after the launch of the scheme.

Non-CTC consumers will get three months to become CTC consumers and during these three months, the non-CTC consumers will receive LPG cylinder at subsidised price. If they become CTC during this period, they will start receiving LPG subsidy directly in their bank accounts. Mittal said that after three months, non-CTC consumers would receive their LPG cylinders at full market price.