Srinagar, April 18(KNB): Government today said that beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) would be entitled to 3-free Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders with effect from April 1 to 30 June 2020, according to a circular issued by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to LPG dealers.
The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) circular stated in case a PMUY beneficiary does not take refills in the above mentioned three month period then the beneficiary can utilize the advance to take refills up to 31 March 2021 and the free refills will not be counted under the existing load deferment scheme.
According to an official audio communiqué released by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, It said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced free-supply of LPG cylinders to the PMUY beneficiaries for the period of three months that is between April to June following economic impact due to the lockdown amid Pandemic Covid-19.
Indian Oil Corporation officials appealed beneficiaries to make payment through the amount in bank accounts or to pay cash to the delivery man for the booking of free cylinders.
“Validity of scheme is from April to 30th June 2020. This scheme is applicable for 14.2 kgs cylinders only. It is proposed to initiate the process of transferring the Retail Selling Price for the 1st refill to all the PMUY customers’ linked bank accounts by 3rd or 4th April 2020. Upon receiving the confirmation from the bank on successful credit in customer’s bank account account, an SMS will be sent to the customer by the OMCs that she may proceed to book the cylinder,” the oil companies have said.
For the second refill, existing check on the time gap of 15 days between the first free refill delivery and subsequent booking will be applicable, subject to the provision that only one cylinder will be given in a calendar month.
Moreover, in the second month, OMCs will initiate the process for transfer to the customer the advance amount equal to the retail selling price of that month, only if the beneficiary has availed refill in the previous month. This means if the customer had received advance for April but had not taken any refills, she will not get any advance for May.
Indian Oil along with other government-owned OMCs had on issued an advisory restricting booking of 14.2 KG cylinders if the customer had availed a refill in the last 15 days, as panic buying of LPG cylinders ensued after the government announced a 21-day lockdown to control the Coronavirus outbreak.
In a bid to ease the burden of poor amid a nation-wide lock down Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last week announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana.
It may be recalled that the Centre was looking at measures such as dipping into the District Mineral Fund (DMF) and offering free cooking gas cylinders to support families in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown. (KNB)