CHENNAI: The need to mandatorily register for the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme to receive subsidies for domestic gas cylinders through banks has unwittingly ended up reviving memories of the dead for several families in Tamil Nadu.
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Families which had failed to transfer ownership of the gas connection from the names of their respective late breadwinners are now finding themselves mired in a lengthy bureaucratic-cum-legal procedure to avail of the LPG subsidy.
Take the case of Vijayalakshmi, a septuagenarian from Mylapore, whose husband had passed away five years ago.
“My husband had taken an Indane LPG connection many years ago. After his death, I did not bother to apply for a name transfer of the LPG connection as I was able to book the cylinders without any hassles. Only now with the DBTL mandate set to come into force have I realised that I can’t avail of the subsidy through my bank account as the LPG connection is not in my name,” she rued. Vijayalakshmi is now wondering whether she would be able to complete all formalities to change the LPG connection in her name and avail of the subsidy in time.
A Bharatgas official said everyday each gas agency was receiving at least 20-25 cases where the connection is being held in the name of those who had died a long time ago.
“Unless the surviving member of the family gets a death certificate of the ‘allottee’ and a legal heir certificate, we cannot transfer the ownership and credit the subsidy in their bank accounts,” explained the official.
The irony is that even after obtaining the necessary certificates, including a ‘no objection certificate’ from siblings (to eliminate legal disputes), the name transfer would not be done instantly. “Right now all gas agencies are busy dealing with the regular DBTL applications. They will deal with name transfer cases only later,” said an oil firm official.