Now, ban imposed on LPG connections

State-run oil marketing companies are imposing an indefinite countrywide ban on issuing fresh cooking gas connections following the UPA government's decision to cap the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to six per household per year.

While Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has already issued an internal circular instructing that fresh LPG connections should be stopped until a "de-duplication" survey is completed, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are expected to follow soon, sources said. To avoid alarm, IOC has instructed that registrations for new customers be kept open, they said.

However, IOC chairman R S Butola claimed the advisory did not bar applications but said new customers should not be registered without proper identification.

The "de-duplication" exercise under the Know Your Customer scheme is being conducted to verify genuine customers by seeking their latest identity and address proof so as to weed out households with multiple connections under different names but the same address. Only consumers with verified connections will get LPG cylinders.

"It (the ban) will continue until all existing consumers are verified. We expect this to take three-four months," said an IOC official. The new ceiling imposed earlier this month has resulted in consumers seeking extra connections.

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