Crackdown on illegal LPG connections

Agencies directed to stop refill supply

It has suspended these connections and asked the agencies to stop supply of refills. There are 75.55 lakh LPG connection holders in the State. The department’s crackdown has brought out the fact that more than 40 per cent of them do not have genuine LPG connections.

As many as 18.35 lakh “ineligible” ration cards were also detected by the department in urban areas across the state during the initiative undertaken to streamline the public distribution system (PDS).

The department’s drive to weed out unlawful LPG connections and ineligible ration cards was pursued by linking the LPG consumer numbers and ration cards to electricity meter RR numbers of the houses in which the beneficiaries reside.

Of the 75.55 lakh LPG connection holders in the state, as many as 27.74 lakh holders did not turn up to furnish the electricity RR numbers or ration card numbers. The LPG connections of these consumers have been suspended.

The highest number of LPG connections have been suspended in Bangalore (12.2 lakh), followed by Mysore (2.5 lakh) and Belgaum (1.6 lakh). Addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Thursday, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shobha Karandlaje and Department Secretary B A Harish Gowda said food grains, sugar, kerosene and LPG cylinders will not be supplied to “suspended” beneficiaries.

The department has hosted the status of all LPG connections and ration cards on its website (http://ahara.kar.nic.in) and has advised all consumers to verify the same. Status can be obtained by sending SMS to 9243355223 using a mobile phone.

However, the consumers have to approach the department if their LPG connection has been suspended despite submitting the details to the gas agencies or for not submitting the details.  Consumers may either upload the required documents on the website or approach the jurisdictional deputy director’s office.

The details have to be furnished within next 15 days. A random check on the website on Thursday revealed some glitches in the system.  The LPG connection status of some consumers was marked as “suspended” on the department website despite submission of their RR number to their LPG agencies.

The LPG connections/ ration cards have been suspended in cases wherein RR number has not been furnished, where more than one ration card or LPG consumer number are linked to RR number, and where the address in the LPG connection and address in the RR number do not match are considered to have violated either clause 3 of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) order 2000, they said.

In case of Ration Cards (RC) in urban areas, of the 52.24 lakh applications processed, 35.4 RCs matched with RR numbers.  As many as 18.35 lakh RCs have been suspended for not receiving RR number, for mismatch of RCs with RR number and for furnishing commercial (like shops or godown instead of residence) RR numbers.