Pahal deadline ends today

Hyderabad:  Domestic LPG consumers who fail to link their Aadhaar card with their LPG connection by Friday would not be eligible for the gas subsidy, which is credited into their bank account, as the ‘Parking period’ for the non-cash transfer compliant (CTC) consumers provided by GoI is coming to an end on May 15.

The Centre had started Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (PAHAL) countrywide from January 1, 2015 making it mandatory for the consumer to link their Aadhaar to LPG connections and also with the bank account number so that their gas subsidy amount is directly deposited into their accounts.

The government had given time for the non-Aadhaar linked consumers in the name of ‘parking period’ till May 15, which allowed them to get cylinder at market price and the subsidy amount was to be transferred after linking their Aadhaar card with LPG.

The state level coordinator for oil marketing companies Madhukar Ingole told Metro India that the parking period would end on May 15 and after this the consumers will have to pay market price per cylinder and the oil companies will not remit the subsidy amount in their bank account if they are not



CTC.

"Now the CTC consumers only will get subsidy amount into the bank account,” said Madhukar Ingole. For the new consumers, they would have to link their Aadhaar and LPG to get subsidy into their accounts, he added. According to the officials, as part of the improvements to the scheme, consumers were now receiving SMS at every stage of enrollment in the scheme.

To avail the same, the consumers are requested to register their mobile number with the distributor, added Ingole. According to the officials, there are around 79 lakh LPG consumers in Telangana using the subsidized gas cylinders.

Off the total consumers 87 per cent of the consumers have linked their Aadhaar card with their bank accounts to get the subsidy. According to the officials, the LPG consumers can check about their Aadhaar seeding on the concerned company’s website by clicking on the ‘Pahal status’.

The 14.2 kg subsidised cylinder would cost Rs 460 and the non-subsidised cylinder would be available for Rs 684 and the amount being deposited in bank is Rs 224. The GoI is spending over Rs 40,000 crore every year as subsidy amount to the oil companies.