Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday that the response from LPG consumers to the ‘GiveItUp’ campaign initiated by the Ministry to voluntarily surrender subsidy is overwhelming and as on 3rd March more than 80 lakh LPG consumers have voluntarily surrendered subsidy on LPG. More than 53 lakh consumers have voluntarily surrendered subsidy on LPG in the last six months.
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are making efforts to target the higher income group (taxable income of more than Rupees 10 lakh) using technology and available information. For the list of consumers already available with OMCs, SMSs have been sent to the consumers to submit self declaration form. Pradhan said that consumers are also provided with on-line facility to declare their income and submit their self declaration in the prescribed form to distributors, if the taxable income of self or his/her spouse exceeds Rs 10 lakh. “Consumer applying for new connection is also required to make declaration of his or his/her spouse of taxable income exceeding Rs. 10 lakh during the previous financial year computed as per Income Tax Act, 1961”, he added.
Moreover, Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha that in year 2007, Government established a Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) under the PNGRB Act 2006. Under the Act, PNGRB grant authorisation to the entities for developing a City Gas Distribution (CGD) network in the specified Geographical Area (GA) of the country through a bidding process. (PNGRB) has envisaged a phased roll out plan for development of CGD networks in several Geographical Areas (GAs) in various States.