In September 2012, Government restricted the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per household per year to stop the large-scale diversion of cheap domestic fuel for commercial use and to cut subsidies.
Consumers who apply for only 6 LPG cylinders per year will get the subsidized price Rs 412.50 per each cylinder. Customers who apply or want to take more than their quota of 6 LPG cylinders per year are considered as non-subsidised cylinders and must pay Rs 957. However, there is no change in the decision to increase the price of commercial cylinders.
Fresh LPG connections banned
As per the decision made by the Union Government to fix the maximum number of cylinders at six per year in September 2012, the public sector oil marketing companies are banning undetermined fresh LPG connections across the country. The ban would be in force until a ‘de-duplication’ survey is finished.
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has already implemented the restriction and it is following by both Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. To avoid anxiety among prospective customers, IOC is keeping registrations open for new LPG connections.
The ‘de-duplication’ involves checking the latest data of customer like identity and address proof under Know Your Customer (KYC) norms to verify the actual customers. The main aim is to remove households with multiple connections under different names with the same address. Consumers with verified connections only are eligible to get LPG cylinders.
Sources say the ban is to be in force until all the existing consumers are verified. De-duplication process may be expected to take three to four months.