As many as 11 lakh customers in Nashik district will get benefit of the Union Cabinet’s decision to increase the number of subsidized Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders for domestic use from 9 to 12. But as there is no decision regarding the subsidy to be given to those customers who purchased non-subsidized cylinders by paying extra money in December and January, the confusion among customers is still there.
The government had initially capped the supply of subsidized domestic LPG cylinders to 6 per household annually in September 2012 in a bid to cut its subsidy bill. The LPG cap quota was raised to 9 in January 2013 and the implementation began from April 1, 2013. After crossing the limit of 9 cylinders, the customers were forced to purchase cylinders at market rate. As there was frequent demand for increase in the number of subsidized LPG cylinders from 9 to 12, the Union government has decided to increase the number.
In Nashik district, there are 11,04,909 LPG customers and most of them will be benefited by the government decision. However, most of these customers have big families, their quota of 9 subsidized cylinders ended in November itself. As a result, they were forced to purchase LPG cylinders at market price in December and January. Though the government decision is a huge relief to these people also, as there is no clarification whether they will get the subsidy for the cylinders they purchased at market price or not, there is confusion among them.
As part of the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) scheme, subsidy amount of 3,18,581 customers has been transferred in their bank accounts till December end. Out of the 11 lakh odd LPG customers in the district, 3,04,579 customers have bank accounts and 3,24,392 customers have Aadhaar Cards. As the Union Cabinet has put on hold the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG consumer (DBTL) scheme for now, the customers have received additional relief in the city.
