LPG distributors want government to delay Direct Cash Transfer scheme

NEW DELHI: It is not only the opposition parties but cooking gas distributors also want the UPA government to delay the implementation of direct benefit transfer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) scheme. They fear there would be problems and errors in meeting the stiff timelines as authorities rush to transfer cash directly to the bank accounts of 14 crore consumers before general election next year.

"The government is in a hurry to implement the scheme and oil marketing companies are simply taking the orders. We are getting short notices for tasks that are not possible to finish with our limited human resource," said an office bearer of All India LPG Distributors Federation (AILDF) that represents issues concerning 12,600 cooking gas distributors of national oil marketing companies IOC, HPCL and BPCL.

LPG distributors are struggling to collect documents to link Aadhaar card and bank account numbers in time. They are claiming that even oil marketing companies are unprepared to roll out this ambitious scheme aimed at curbing leakages in subsidy by preventing black marketing of cooking gas cylinders. Distributors, who make about 38 per cylinder, want oil marketing companies to pay for their additional work burden of guiding customers and updating their data base in short notices.