Centre says eKYC needed only for unauthenticated LPG customers

AMid the on-going preparation gaseous state crisis in the rural area due to the westward Asia conflict, the Union petroleum ministry on Tuesday clarified that biometric Aadhaar authentication for electronic know your customer (e-KYC) beneficiaries is only needed for “unauthenticated” LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) customers.India has over 330 million LPG customers, including 105.1 million Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries. The eKYC is, however, mandatory for a PMUY beneficiary to get a deposit-free LPG connection.“The requirement of eKYC applies to those LPG consumers who have not done eKYC so far. If you are a non-PMUY customer and have done it before, you don’t need to do it again,” the ministry said in a social media post. Earlier on March 15, the ministry had said, “All domestic LPG consumers are required to complete Biometric Aadhaar Authentication (e-KYC).”It its clarification, the ministry said that it was not a fresh direction. Referring to its March 15 post, it said on Tuesday: “The recent post by the ministry is a part of the ongoing efforts of the Government to encourage more LPG consumers to complete biometric Aadhaar authentication.”“The requirement of eKYC applies to those LPG consumers who have not done eKYC so far. If you are a non-PMUY customer and have done it before, you don’t need to do it again,” the ministry said in the post.According to the post, PMUY customers need to do eKYC “only once every financial year” that too only for receiving targeted direct benefit transfer (DBT) subsidies after seven refills i.e. On eighth and ninth refill. “eKYC can be done easily sitting at home, free of cost. Supply of refills is not affected in any case. EKYC ensures transparency, establishes clear eligibility, weeds out ghost consumers and discourages diversion of LPG,” it clarified.Minister of state for petroleum Suresh Gopi told the Rajya Sabha on March 9 that the government is providing a targeted subsidy of ₹300 per cylinder for up to nine refills of 14.2kg cylinders per annum (proportionately pro-rated for 5kg cylinders) in the financial year 2025-26.“Government has paid a compensation of ₹22,000 crore to OMCs [oil marketing companies] in FY 2022-23 and has approved another compensation of ₹30,000 crore in FY 2025-26,” he informed the Lok Sabha on March 12.Three state-run OMCs – Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) – enjoy near monopoly in LPG retail business. They recently raised domestic LPG price by ₹60 per 14.2kg cylinder. Current retail selling price of a 14.2kg domestic LPG cylinder is currently ₹913 in Delhi. After a targeted subsidy of ₹300 per cylinder to PMUY consumers, the Centre is providing 14.2kg LPG cylinders at an effective price of ₹613 per cylinder (in Delhi) to all eligible PMUY beneficiaries.