KUMAR ANSHUMAN

HellPG!

- By Kumar Anshuman

Tue Oct 23 12:21:45 GMT 2012

On September 13, the Union government capped the number of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per household a year. Although such a move had been in the offing for a while, its sudden announcement, sans any blueprint on how to implement the scheme, threw consumers and distributors off balance.
“This has created complete chaos,” said Shailesh Jain, president, All India Indane Distributors Association. “The biggest problem is that now we have the same 14.2kg cylinder at four different prices.” According to Jain, there is no clarity on how to distribute the four categories of cylinders: subsidised, non-subsidised, commercial and exempt.
Adding to the confusion, the government announced three extra subsidised cylinders for consumers in Congress-ruled states. Distributors, however, say they are yet to receive notification from state governments. “We have read about the decision to give three extra cylinders, to be subsidised by the state, for domestic consumption,” said Kristofer Atharva, an LPG distributor in Mumbai. “But we haven't received any notification from the state government.” According to Atharva, distributors are unsure whether the subsidy would be given to them or to the company directly.
“This needs to be clarified to reduce the woes of consumers and oil marketing companies,” said George Paul, executive director, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. “First, state governments will have to decide whether to give subsidy to all consumers or only to target groups such as families below poverty line.”
Also, a mechanism for paying the subsidy to the oil companies needs to be set up. One way would be to pay the Union government, which, in turn, would pay the oil companies. “All this is still not worked out, so the announcement is merely a political stunt,” said an LPG distributor.
Many people complain that six subsidised cylinders a year are inadequate for joint families. “Most of the times, six cylinders a year are sufficient for a nuclear family,” said Sachin Patil, a domestic consumer in Mumbai. “It might not be the case for joint families. The black marketing of domestic cylinders to commercial users such as restaurants and LPG vehicles will remain a worry.”
In rural Maharashtra, where most of the households have joint families and many vehicles run on LPG, the possibility of hoarding is alarmingly high. “We are completely clueless about how the state administration is going to act against the hoarding and illegal use of LPG,” said Mukteshvar Munashettivar, general secretary, LPG Consumers Association.
Saiyed Asif, a domestic consumer in Delhi, complained that subsidised cylinders were hard to get. “Whenever I call the agency people, they say that subsidised cylinders have not come and only cylinders with market price are available. According to the agency, a cylinder will cost me around 01,000,” he said.
Jain, however, denied it. “No distributor can charge extra. Six subsidised cylinders are a consumer's right. Everyone will get that,” he said.
In Karnataka, though, distributors have been implementing the scheme without any hassle. “The scheme is already operative and there is no shortage of cylinders. Consumers are getting them on time,” said N. Sathyan, secretary of All India LPG Distributors Federation (Karnataka Circle).
The real pinch of the subsidy cap is being felt by anganwadis, non-governmental organisations, government-run hostels, hospitals and schools implementing the mid-day meal scheme. Though these organisations were not under the domestic household category earlier, they used to have a quota of subsidised cylinders, considering the social welfare schemes they were implementing. “Under the new scheme, only domestic households are entitled to subsidised cylinders,” said Sathyan. “The quota for social welfare institutions has been removed. So they will have to buy cylinders at market rate.”
Oil companies are now focusing on identifying more than one connection under the same address. “If there are more than one connection under the same name and address, we immediately disconnect all but one,” said George Paul. “However, there are cases in which on the same address, there are multiple connections with different names. In such cases, we are trying to figure out whether these are separate families.”
Several Union ministers have voiced their opposition to the decision to cap the number of subsidised cylinders. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal wants the petroleum ministry to continue providing subsidised cylinders for the mid-day meal programme. In a recent Union cabinet meeting, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar raised the problems faced by the residents of housing societies, who are given cylinders registered under the name of the society.
The complaints have prompted the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to prepare a blueprint on how to implement the scheme effectively. It will be presented to the Prime Minister's Office on November 15. Until that plan is implemented, consumers and distributors will have to bear the brunt of the hastily taken decision.
with Niranjan Takle & Abhinav Singh

Gas Trouble
Cost of LPG cylinders
 in Delhi
Subsidised – Rs410.50
Non-subsidised – Rs895.50
Exempted – 11,075
Commercial (19kg) – Rs1,536

Source: BPCL