No change in LPG?woes

Thiruvananthapuram: Officials of the Indian Oil Corporation have officially confirmed that the grace period for availing of Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) has been extended till February 28, thus easing the bottleneck over distribution.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Corporate Communication Manager V. Vetriselvakumar said in a statement here that the extension would be valid for 12 districts as the other two districts, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad, had already implemented the DBTL Scheme.

The price of a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder has been hiked by Rs 231.33 in Thiruvananthapuram from January 1 due to the increase in the international prices of LPG. However, customers who have already linked their Aadhaar number with both their LPG distributor and their banks continue to receive the subsidy up to nine refills per year.

The current month’s subsidy is Rs 814.49 in Thiruvananthapuram market which will be credited to the consumers’ bank account. The subsidy amount also varied in line with the retails selling price of domestic LPG refill cylinder, Vetriselvakumar said.

LPG distribution was disrupted for the third day on Friday following the confusion over the price of subsidised cylinders. Though the oil companies had intimated the gas agencies that the hike in LPG prices was not applicable for subsidised cylinders, they failed to correct the price in the software.

Following this, gas agencies could not distribute LPG to customers. Oil companies have clarified that the centralised software would be rectified by Saturday noon.