Complaints galore against DBTL scheme
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, October 26 2015:
There have been many complaints about the subsidy amount paid by LPG consumers to LPG agencies under the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) not reaching their respective bank accounts.
Some DBTL consumers told The Sangai Express that the subsidy given by the Government of India on each LPG refill which the consumers paid to LPG agencies at the time of taking LPG re-fill does not reach their bank accounts.
According to the DBTL scheme, the subsidy amount paid by consumers should be reimbursed to each consumer through their respective bank accounts.
It is not known whether it is because of any anomalies or loopholes on the part of distributors, IOC officials or documents submitted by consumers.
Notably, the DBTL scheme was launched jointly by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum and IOC with the primary objective ensuring that the subsidy given by Government of India reaches each consumer directly.
Earlier, the subsidy was given through LPG distributors.
According to information received from IOC's Imphal Divisional Sales Office, there were many complaints about subsidy given by the Government of India not reaching their respective bank accounts.
Nonetheless, after certain measures were taken up to rectify anomalies and plug in loopholes, LPG subsidy amount now reaches bank accounts of most DBTL consumers and subsequently, the number of complaints has also declined considerably.
There are around 3.22 lakh active LPG consumers out of whom 2.56 consumers are DBTL consumers.
The number of multiple LPG connections have dwindled dramatically since the DBTL scheme was launched.
Cases of misusing subsidized LPG refills have also declined considerably.
Reciprocally, the number of non-subsidized LPG consumers has been increasing, informed the source.