Account no submission delay costs LPG subsidy
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 07 2015 :
Failure to submit bank account numbers in time after submission of KYC forms is costing many consumers their LPG subsidy.
Some of these consumers have been buying LPG refills of 14.2 Kg capacity each at Rs 1500 from black markets.
One LPG consumer from Malom told The Sangai Express, on condition of anony- mity, that they submitted KYC forms in time as told by a branch distributor located at Malom.
Sometime later, the distributor asked consumers to submit bank account numbers.
But the bank account numbers were not submitted.
However, when some consumers went to submit bank account numbers after a gap of around six months, the distributor refused to receive account numbers.
Although the exact figure could not be told, most consumers looked unlikely that they submitted their bank account numbers in time, said the particular consumer.
When consumers went to the office of the branch distributor, staff found there maintained that their duties were restricted to booking and distribution of LPG refills.
Saying that there was no staff to receive bank account numbers, they suggested the consumers to go to the head office at Nambol.
At Nambol, they were told that bank account numbers could not be received at the moment as 'clearance' from the concerned authority was awaiting.
"To this, we sought new connections or registration of the existing connections against new names but the LPG distributor was not responding positively", he said.
"On account of the imbroglio, we have not been getting subsidized refills almost one year", he continued.
He conveyed that they have been buying LPG refill from black market at Rs 1500.Informing that they have been buying LPG refills from Malom Bazar, he said that LPG refills are available at Nambol Bazar, Utlou and Mekola too.
He maintained that IOC authorities should examine whether denial of LPG subsidy to consumers for failure to submit bank accounts in time is justified or not.
Even if the consumers who have been denied LPG subsidy for their failure to submit bank accounts in time for the DBTL scheme, they must be provided non-subsidized LPG refills and this is written in the IOC's guidelines, he added.