Public sector LPG providers have set a target to cover 90 per cent of the total 65 lakh domestic customers in Gujarat under the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) by January 15. So far only 10 per cent of the domestic LPG customers are covered under the DBTL, informed top official of Indian Oil Corporation here.
D K Sharma, State Level Co-ordinator, Gujarat maintained that the modified DBTL scheme will be rolled-out in the state from January 1, 2015 and 90 per cent of the total customer base of all the three PSU LPG players including IOC, BPCL and HPCL will be covered by January 15.
“The implementation of the scheme is much easier now than last year. Earlier Aadhaar was required to get covered under DBTL, but now with a bank account also, customers can be covered under DBTL,” said Sharma during a media interaction here.
Giving details about IOC’s plan to implement the scheme, Sharma mentioned that all the distributors of the company have been assigned daily target to convert at least 1.5 per cent of its customers.
However, with implementation of the DBTL, the number of new connections issued per annum is likely to remain stable at around 5-6 lakh every year for the industry. IOC commands about 52 per cent market share in the domestic LPG segment in Gujarat.
Notably, the Scheme, which is designed to ensure that the subsidy benefit meant for the genuine domestic customers reaches them directly and is not diverted, could not kick off as desired. But now with clear directions from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG), the distribution players have increased their focus on complete coverage of DBTL.