What the Heck Giving up LPG Subsidy Not so Easy

Why have only 3.23 lakh enrolled for the government’s ‘Give It Up’ drive to surrender LPG subsidy?

‘Give it up’. That’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest campaign after the ‘Swacch Bharat’ and ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ initiatives. The drive aims to motivate people to voluntarily surrender their LPG subsidies.

But, in a country of 1.2 billion people, only 3.23 lakh LPG users have so far forfeited their LPG quota. So, what’s really holding them back from giving it up? Is the process too cumbersome ? Or, are we as a people unwilling to take on the responsibility of surrendering subsidies?

Modi’s Appeal

A little over a week ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the better-offs to forgo their LPG subsidies, claiming that if one crore people gave it up, an equal number of poor families would benefit from the move.

I appeal to all MPs, MLAs, ministers, IAS and IPS officers, professors and professionals to forgo their LPG subsidy and derive happiness by doing so.

—Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

The PM also stressed that the contribution would go towards the process of nation-building. Following Modi’s push, several corporate houses have joined the campaign. In the 2015-16 Budget estimates, rupees 22,000 crore has been earmarked for the LPG subsidy.

‘Give It Up’ Drive

The ‘Opt Out of Subsidy’ scheme was launched to relieve the government of a whopping subsidy bill of rupees 46,000 crore. To register in the opt-out scheme, a person can either submit a written request to the distributor or do it online at www.MyLPG.in.

‘Giving it up’ takes five clicks – including feeding your 17-digit LPG ID number which can be found by entering your distributor name and consumer number. Offline facilities are also available, just submit ‘Form-5’ to the dealer, along with proofs of identity and the LPG registration paper.

A report in Times of India recently stated, that for those not wanting to visit dealers, the government has come up with alternatives such as microsites, websites, Google play apps and SMS features. Through these measures, the government is aiming to get one crore consumers to give up their subsidies.

Need for Easy Process

But, only a minuscule 0.2 per cent of the 16 crore LPG connections have surrendered their LPG subsidies. Many are still unaware of the procedure – which makes one think that a possible remedy would be to simplify it.

Giving up an LPG subsidy could be made extremely easy. Those reluctant to go online or to the distributor should be given the option of surrendering through an SMS. However, most of the dealers, when contacted, were found unaware of this one-step easy route. They recommended instead the filling up of Form-5 which involved a manual interface. Alternatively, a call to the dealer or helpline should facilitate the process.

Simplification of the process will only help finances reach more poor households. At present, consumers are entitled to 12 refills of 14.2 kg cylinders or 34 refills of 5 kg bottles in a year at subsidised rates.