Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu, has urged the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs to ensure that oil marketing companies (OMC) do not insist on linking Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts for getting subsidised LPG refills.
Although Supreme Court had held that Aadhaar card is not mandatory to get subsidies for LPG cylinders and Union Minister for Petroleum had stated that Aadhaar was not mandatory, one OMC had instructed its distributors to insist on Aadhaar card while booking refills.
The council said Aadhaar card had no legal basis as it was not created by an Act of Parliament. “The Minister for Consumer Affairs cannot be a passive spectator when consumers are put to hardship. Aadhaar card should not be insisted till May 2014 and before a legal status is given to the card,” it said.
Another resolution condemned the negligent attitude of Tiruchi Railway Division, which resulted in several passengers getting stranded at Manjathidal railway station recently after a lone clerk went on sick leave closing the station. The council has informed the affected passengers they could seek compensation under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
