LPG re-authentication extended to March 31: delivery boys to carry biometric devices for doorstep Aaadhar, also available in the app

Re-authentication of biometric credentials of consumers will be carried out at consumers doorsteps

TNN and agencies, 17 December 2023, Kolkata: The re-authentication mandatory for all those who want to avail subsidy is extended to March 31, 2024, especially for customers in the below poverty level (BPL) category, who get a subsidy of Rs 315 deposited at their bank accounts, but it makes little difference to non-Ujjwala consumers as they get a subsidy of just Rs 19.6.

LPG distribution centres across the state have been witnessing serpentine queues as hundreds of consumers are rushing rushing there for biometric identification over the last few weeks, fearing that their connection may be snapped by the end of this year if the fingerprint is not updated in the system. 

“It is nothing but a process of re-authentication of biometric credentials. March 31 is the current deadline, extended from the previously announced date of December 31 for consumers who still enjoy the subsidy, particularly those under the Ujjwala scheme,” said Bijon Bihari Biswas, vice--president of the All India LPG Dealers’ Federation. 

Now the re-authentication of biometric credentials of LPG domestic consumers will be carried out at consumers’ doorsteps, with 70%-80% of delivery personnel having been supplied with biometric authentication devices. 

“This will ease the pressure at the distributors’ end where consumers are making long queues to get their Aadhaar re-authenticated. Moreover, the deliverymen will do this while making doorstep delivery of LPG cylinders,” said a senior oil marketing company (OMC) official.

However, several dealers feel that there may be some problems with door-to-door biometric collection. According to them, most of the delivery boys are not familiar with biometrics. In that case they must be trained. Apart from this, they also say that many vendors in the city have 30 to 35 thousand customers per capita, while in case of village it is 10 to 15 thousand. This time, no awareness or promotion program has been taken by the oil company or the government.

The OMCs, meanwhile, clarified that the biometric authentication of LPG domestic consumers is being done by OMCs now to authenticate the Aadhaar submitted. 

“There is no such information that the subsidy will be discontinued or the gas connection will be terminated. The exercise is only aimed at authenticating the Aadhaar given by customers using subsidised LPG. Customers are being requested to cooperate and get their biometric authentication done,” said an official.

The authentication process is often interrupted by technical glitches like server failure. People often get panic-driven that if they don’t complete this authentication process then it may lead to termination of the gas connection. But OMC officials confirmed that such fear has no basis. 

“There is no such specific deadline for this biometric authentication. But we have to complete it in a time-bound manner. So, our focus is on the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). After this, other subsidy holders will be authenticated,” said an OMC official.Bengal has around 2.6 crore domestic consumers. A large section of them still enjoys the subsidy. It is impossible to re-authenticate the biometric credentials of these consumers, added the official. 

“However, LPG cylinder distributors visit each of these households periodically. If they can authenticate by checking the biometric credentials, the job can be completed fast,” he said. 

The government subsidises a portion of the LPG price. This is done by transferring the subsidy directly to bank accounts of users. Beneficiaries then use this money to buy LPG at market price. In case of PMUY consumers living below the poverty line, the subsidy amount is around Rs 300. 

For other consumers in Kolkata, the amount is Rs 19.57. India Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), being the largest of the OMCs, has the highest market share in Bengal. Out of a total of 2.6 crore LPG domestic consumers in Bengal, IOCL alone has 1.5 crore consumers. The other two OMCs — HP and BPC — have 60 lakh and 53 lakh consumers, respectively. IOC’s PMUY consumer base is 65 lakh.OMCs have also clarified that nothing else is linked to this biometric authentication.

If any delivery man or distributor representative tries to sell any goods or services making it part of the biometric authentication, one must refuse it and lodge a formal complaint with the distributor.

A special app will be available on mobile only for those who supply cooking gas. And through that they will take the customer's fingerprint (fingerprint) or face scan (eyelash scan). Biometric update will be completed in this way.