- Why in news
- On 19 September 2026 the Petroleum Ministry said that from 1 October 2026 only domestic LPG consumers who have completed Biometric Aadhaar Authentication can book refills at the regulated price with subsidy.
- What it is
- Domestic LPG in India is sold to households at a regulated Retail Selling Price, below cost, by Oil Marketing Companies. Linking each connection to an Aadhaar-authenticated consumer is meant to target the subsidy and curb diversion and duplicate connections. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is the scheme that gave LPG connections to poor households.
- Coverage so far
- 27.43 crore active domestic LPG consumers, 89.9 per cent, had completed BAA by 19 September 2026.
- Ways to authenticate
- BAA can be done at delivery, at the distributor's showroom, or on OMC apps: IndianOil ONE (Indane), HelloBPCL (Bharatgas), HP PAY (HP Gas).
- Option to opt out
- Consumers unwilling or unable to complete BAA get LPG at market price without subsidy, in 5 kg or 10 kg cylinders, subject to local availability.
- Cost of subsidy
- Implicit subsidy was about ₹210 per 14.2 kg cylinder for September 2026, and reached ₹721 in June 2026.
- Government compensation to OMCs
- Government paid OMCs ₹22,000 crore in FY 2022-23 and is paying ₹30,000 crore over FY 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Schemes: 52 Prelims questions since 2013, 10 in Prelims 2026 alone. They test features, the period and who funds it. In Mains, 33 news-triggered questions, mostly GS3.
Why it matters
- Targets the subsidy to genuine households and reduces diversion to commercial use.
- Removes duplicate and ineligible connections, easing the fiscal burden of under-recoveries.
Problems
- Biometric failure, poor connectivity and low digital access may exclude elderly, rural and poor households.
- Moving unauthenticated consumers to market price may hurt genuine poor users.
Way forward
- Keep assisted authentication at delivery and in camps, with fallback methods for biometric failures.
- Monitor exclusion and grievances so genuine households are not denied.
Put in your answer
Subsidy cost data: Accumulated under-recoveries of public sector OMCs on domestic LPG exceeded ₹62,000 crore as on 31 August 2026.
Stated rationale: Linking each connection to an Aadhaar-authenticated consumer helps prevent diversion to commercial and industrial use and removes duplicates.
- 2015Mains GS3 · Q5How replacing price subsidy with DBT changes India's subsidy scenario
- 2022Mains GS2 · Q8Comment on DBT as a progressive step and its limitations
- 2013Mains GS2 · Q13Whether electronic cash transfer minimises corruption and wastage in welfare schemes
- 2020Prelims Q1Whether Aadhaar is mandatory for benefits funded from Consolidated Fund
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: New rule from 1 October 2026 on subsidy targeting. Schemes are 16% of Prelims questions, but facts are procedural, so no question.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.