The department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs clarified on Friday that those who do not have a ration card can furnish electricity bills, or give a declaration giving their name, address, and LPG consumer number.
Worried that you might not get your cooking fuel? Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumers need not panic, even if they do not possess a ration card. They can still produce the electricity bill to get continued supply of cooking gas.
The department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs clarified on Friday that those who do not have a ration card can furnish electricity bills, or give a declaration giving their name, address, and LPG consumer number.
In the letter, they must also mention the documents they do not have with them now. The department officials will inspect their place to verify the facts given.
On Thursday, the department announced that people of all urban areas in the state who have LPG connections must furnish their ration cards and electricity bills to avoid cancellation of their LPG connection. January 29 was fixed as the deadline for submission of the papers. This created panic among consumers and the department was inundated with calls on Friday.
To end the confusion, the department notified that even if consumers of LPG do not possess a ration card, they can produce their electricity bills or submit a declaration on plain paper.
But if the consumer shares a common electricity meter with another LPG consumer, they should submit their electricity bills, which will be verified. “We want to see how many such cases come to us so that we can weed out bogus ration cards in circulation,” said Dr NV Prasad, commissioner, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department.
The department’s move comes in the wake of numerous complaints from cooking gas distribution companies that the demand for cylinders is more than the requirement. It aims to weed out fake ration cards and irregularities in the supply of cylinders.
“We have a database of the number of people eligible to get LPG gas connections and supply. But that number has exceeded due to large number of people faking ration cards. They have taken the public distribution system for granted,” said Prasad.
But the department’s drive has upset a section of residents who constitute the floating population. They say they will have problems in getting new ration cards in the state within a short span of time.
“I had once tried for a LPG connection but the local distributor asked me to pay Rs6,000 because I did not have a ration card and I come from another state. But if the department want us to furnish ration card along with the electricity bill, they should issue us these cards without any hassle,” said Nilotpal Samanta, a resident of Mathikere.
“My ration card expired and I don’t have an electricity bill as it comes to my landlord, who is out of station. What should I do? Even if I try to renew the ration card, it would take time,” said Sumit Bhatnagar, a resident of Indiranagar.
“The department should give enough time for consumers to produce documents. Moreover, their offices would be closed on Sundays and we do not have any day other than Sunday to arrange the relevant papers,” said Avishek GB, a resident of Domlur.
The department found that in urban areas, there are 55 lakh above poverty line (APL) card holders. But according to government figures, there should be only 32 lakh APL card holders in urban areas in the state. A total of 1.2 crore population is eligible for ration cards while there are about 1.5 crore ration card holders in the state.
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