look news india
In Uttar Pradesh, with the aim of providing clean fuel to the poor and rural families registered under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and to provide relief to women from smoke, the state government is running a welfare system of providing two free LPG gas cylinders in a year. Under this scheme, the first free cylinder is provided on the occasion of Diwali (in the quarter from October to December) and the second free cylinder is provided on the occasion of Holi (in the quarter from January to March). Every year, special budgetary provision is sanctioned by the state government for this initiative, due to which more than 1.86 crore eligible families of the state get direct financial benefits.
Many beneficiaries have a question in their minds whether they will get a free cylinder without paying any money to the hawker at the time of delivery of the cylinder. As per the clear guidelines of the scheme, this benefit is based on the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) model. At the time of receiving the cylinder, the consumer has to make full cash or online payment of the fixed retail price of 14.2 kg domestic cylinder (e.g. approximately ₹979 to ₹983) applicable at that time to the gas distribution agency or delivery agent. After successful delivery of the cylinder and confirmation entered in the system, the entire retail amount including the fixed subsidy amount given by the Central Government (approximately ₹ 300) and the State Government’s contribution (approximately ₹ 680) is sent back (refund) directly to the bank account of the beneficiary. In this way there is no burden on the consumer’s pocket and the cylinder becomes practically completely free.
After successful delivery of the cylinder is recorded, the subsidy process is initiated by the integrated system of the oil marketing companies (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL) and the state government. Usually, the refund amount is credited to the beneficiary’s account through DBT within 2 to 5 working days of completion of delivery. The time frame for this process depends on whether the consumer’s bank account is correctly seeded with Aadhaar and actively enrolled on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) mapper. As soon as the amount is deposited, the consumer receives an SMS alert from the bank and the oil company.
To avail 100% financial benefit of the scheme, it is mandatory for every beneficiary to fulfill the following technical and administrative requirements:
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Active Ujjwala Connection: The LPG connection of the consumer must be mandatorily registered under ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ (PMUY). Ordinary domestic gas connection holders do not get the benefit of this scheme.
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Biometric verification of e-KYC: The beneficiary must have complete Aadhaar based biometric or face-authentication e-KYC in the records of the concerned gas agency (Indane, Bharat Gas, or HP Gas). Subsidy of consumers with incomplete e-KYC is automatically stopped by the system.
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Aadhaar-seeded bank account: The bank account should be active and DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) facility should be enabled in it.
If you have taken delivery of the cylinder within the stipulated time and even after that the subsidy amount has not come to your bank account, then first of all go to the office of your gas distributor agency and check whether your delivery has been registered as ‘Delivered’ in the system and whether e-KYC is active or not. After this, visit your bank branch and ensure that your account is correctly mapped to Aadhaar on NPCI Mapper and no account limit (Freezing/Inoperative) is applicable. Consumers can also check their cylinder booking history and subsidy transfer status live by logging into the official portal (mylpg.in).