Consumers giving up LPG subsidy on the rise

An LPG dealer said that most consumers preferred to give up their subsidies by visiting the outlets.

With the Central government urging residents to give up their LPG cylinder subsidy, thousands of consumers across the State have opted to pay the market price for the cooking fuel. So far 3.16 lakh consumers belonging to the three oil companies – Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum – have opted out of the subsidy regime, say oil industry sources.

“Once they choose the option, we will stop remitting money towards the subsidy component to their bank accounts. Many of these consumers are from urban centres and say they don’t mind paying the subsidy amount. We also constantly send text messages and ask dealers to encourage consumers to opt out of purchasing subsidised LPG cylinders,” said a source.

M. Babu, a retired deputy secretary (health), who gave up subsidy recently, said he was influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call. “The Prime Minister says our subsidy amount, if given up, will help those in poor households. Since the difference between market price and subsidised cylinders is not huge we thought we can afford to pay the full money. I thought I should contribute my bit towards nation-building,” contended the senior citizen.

In Chennai 60,000 consumers have opted out of the subsidy regime, which is the highest in the State. Tiruvallur and Coimbatore districts had 21,000 consumers each giving up their subsidy. The approximate number of consumers in other districts who opted to pay the full amount are: Cuddalore (20,000), Tiruchi (17,500), Salem and Tirupur (16,000 each), Kancheepuram (13,300), Vellore (9,600), Tiruvannamalai (7500), Ramanathapuram (3,500) and Tiruvarur (1,470).

An LPG dealer said that most consumers preferred to give up their subsidies by visiting the outlets. “Though they can opt out through IVRS and online too, they come over here to discus with us. But that is only a small percentage. Many consumers whom we approach refuse to give up subsidy saying that that is the only thing they get from the Central government. Even petrol prices are not subsidised they point out,” said a dealer.

An IOC official said a customer who has given up subsidy can seek its restoration by giving an application for the same at the agency from where he or she gets refill.