Aadhaar account seeding low in Punjab

In many districts, Aadhaar account seeding is less than 15 per cent, say data

Although the Centre is planning to launch the modified Direct Benefits Transfer of liquefied petroleum gas (DBTL) scheme in the remaining 16 districts of Punjab by January 1, linking beneficiaries' account with Aadhaar is low.

According to the data, in many districts, bank-Aadhaar seeding (linking the bank account with Aadhaar number) is less than 15 per cent.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Deputy Director General Keshni Anand Arora, during the recently concluded State-Level Bankers' Committee meet, asked bankers to speed up the process, so that the scheme can be launched successfully.

There are approximately six million LPG consumers in 22 districts of Punjab and the Aadhaar generation is 90 per cent.

The modified DBTL has already been launched in six districts of the state - Barnala, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and SBS Nagar - where the penetration was high.

Out of the total 16 districts, there are 12 districts where LPG-Aadhaar seeding is less than 50 per cent. The districts where LPG-Aadhaar seeding is very low include Tarn Taran (22.7 per cent), Ferozpur (23.8 per cent), Mansa (27 per cent), Fazilka (35.2 per cent). Bankers are contemplating various options to increase the seeding .

Under the modified Direct Benefit transfer of LPG (DBTL), LPG consumers who have an Aadhaar number must provide their Aadhaar number to LPG distributor and bank, this is the preferred mode of joining the scheme.

Second option is consumers who do not have Aadhaar number can receive cash directly in their bank account without producing Aadhaar. However, as and when they get Aadhaar they need to shift to Aadhaar-based cash transfer.

Further, consumers who are not cash-transfer compliant will get a three month grace period during which they would receive the cylinders at subsidised rate. After this, they will get an additional three month as parking period during which they will have to buy cylinders at the market rate. If the consumer joins the scheme within the parking period, the subsidy as per entitlement and consumption during parking period will be transferred to the bank account.