DBTL on hold in Karnataka

Refills only at subsidised rates from March 10

Here is good news for harried domestic LPG consumers who had registered for direct benefit transfer for LPG (DBTL) and are struggling to get the subsidies in their bank accounts.

Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) have decided to supply domestic LPG refill at subsidised rates (Rs. 425 in Bangalore) from Monday.

Even after the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas suspended the scheme in January, consumers who had opted for DBTL and were categorised as Cash Transfer Compliant (CTC) consumers, had been paying the market price (about Rs. 1,200) for the refill.

Complaints

They had been raising issues such as inordinate delay in cash transfer and short changing. On the other hand, non-CTC consumers continued to get refill at subsidised prices.

Harish Panchal, a retired private sector executive, was wondering why DBTL was being forced when Aadhaar was not mandatory to get subsidised refill.

Distributors too were flooded with complaints of non-reimbursement and partial reimbursement of subsidy, said a leading LPG distributor in south Bangalore.

The distributor said booking and delivery of refill had almost been suspended for Friday and Saturday as OMCs had asked them not to deliver refills till Monday till the software changeover takes place.

The OMCs had made two lists of customers—one for CTC and another for non-CTC.

Now both would have to be merged, he said. Sources in OMCs termed the process as “suspension” and not “scrapping”.

No delivery

N. Sathyan, general secretary of the All-India LPG Distributors’ Federation, Karnataka Chapter, told The Hindu that the distributors were not delivering refills to CTC customers till Monday. Though there were complaints about the functioning of DBTL, the system was helpful in eliminating the diversion of subsidised LPG cylinders.

There was a delay in cash transfer recently due to the two-day bank strike, Mr. Sathyan said.

With the suspension of DBTL, CTC customers who had not utilised their quota of 12 cylinders for 2013-14, could get the refill at subsidised rates, he added.