Lok Sabha Question No. 598 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-06
Subject: LPG Consumers
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: NEPAL SINGH, JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA, CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE, PRATAPRAO GANPATRAO JADHAV

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 598

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 th  FEBRUARY 2017

## LPG CONSUMERS

†598.   DR. NEPAL SINGH: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE: SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE: SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

## पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state :

- (a) the total number of LPG consumers in the country and the steps taken to increase LPG coverage ratio in all rural/urban areas including to appoint LPG distributors at Panchayat/village level in proportion to target fixed in this regard, State/UT-wise;
- (b)  whether  there  is  acute  shortage  and  mismatch  in  the  demand  and  supply  of  LPG cylinders  in  several  States  and  if  so,  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to remove the shortage and appoint sufficient of LPG distributors in such States to meet the demand, State/UT-wise;
- (c)  the  number  of  cases  of  inadequate  door  to  door  service/irregular  and  delayed  home delivery,  black-marketing,  diversion  of  cylinders  for  commercial  purpose,  overcharging  for LPG, underweight/ pilferage of gas reported/noticed by the Government during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise; and
- (d) the number of said cases identified against the distributors/officials involved therein and raids  conducted  to  detect/expose  such  irregularities  along  with  the  action  taken  thereon including cancellation of distributorship during the said period, State/ UT-wise?

## ANSWER

पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्रािय में राज्य मंत्री ( स्विंत्र प्रभार ) ( श्री धमेन्द्र प्रधान )

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) As on 01.01.2017, total active domestic LPG customers in the country are 19.16 crore. With a view to provide LPG connections to poor households, the Government has launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for release of 5 crore new LPG connections over a period  of  three  years  starting  from  2016-17  to  BPL  households  identified  through  SECC data.

Appointment of LPG distributorships is a continuous process and locations for setting up of LPG distributorships are identified based on available refill sale potential that makes them  economically  viable.  State/UTs-wise  details  of  existing  LPG  distributorships  are  at Annexure-I

In the current financial year 2016-17, Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have  advertised  for  setting  up  1531  new  distributorships  in  the  States  of  Uttar  Pradesh, Odisha,  Uttarakhand  and  Punjab.  56  new  distributorships  under  Durgam  Kshetriya  Vitrak (DKV) category have been sanctioned to the agencies of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh Government. As on 29.01.2017, 1053 Letters of Intent (LOIs) have been given to selected applicants  and  619  new  distributorships  have  been  commissioned  in  the  current  financial year.

(b)  OMCs  have  reported  that  they  endeavour  to  meet  the  genuine  demand  of  LPG consumers  within  48  hours.    However,  delay  in  refill  supplies  may  occur  in  the  event  of backlog due to non-availability of filled LPG cylinders with the distributors for unavoidable reasons,  road  breaches,  floods,  strikes,  incidents  of  bandhs,  shortage  of  bulk  LPG,  nonavailability of trucks, etc. and in such situations, bottling plants work on extended hours as well as on holidays to clear the backlog.

(c)  &  (d)  Under  the  erstwhile  RGGLV  Scheme,  LPG  distributorships  were  not  required  to provide  home  delivery  to  their  customers.  Now,  all  existing  RGGLV  distributorships  with monthly refill sale of more than 1500 are being treated as 'Gramin Vitrak' in accordance with Unified  Guidelines  for  Selection  of  LPG  Distributorships  2016  and  with  mandatory  home delivery facility.

State/UT-wise  details  of  established  cases  of  malpractices/irregularities  by  OMCs distributorships  during  the  last  three  years  and  in  the  current  year  (from  April,  2016  to December 2016) are at Annexure-II.

In  all  established  cases  of  irregularities,  action  is  taken  by  OMCs  as  per  the provisions of Marketing Discipline Guidelines and Distributorship Agreement. State/UT-wise details  of  LPG  distributorships  terminated  by  OMCs  due  to  irregularities  during  2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 & April 2016 to December, 2016 are at Annexure-III .

## STATEWISE  NUMBER OF DISTRIBUTORS AS ON 01.01.2017

(FIG IN Nos)

| STATE/UT                    |   OMCs |
|-----------------------------|--------|
| CHANDIGARH                  |     27 |
| DELHI                       |    321 |
| HARYANA                     |    461 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH            |    166 |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR             |    242 |
| PUNJAB                      |    740 |
| RAJASTHAN                   |   1055 |
| UTTAR PRADESH               |   2931 |
| UTTRANCHAL                  |    252 |
| SUB TOTAL NORTH             |   6195 |
| ANDAMAN & NICOBAR           |      5 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH           |     58 |
| ASSAM                       |    440 |
| BIHAR                       |   1066 |
| JHARKHAND                   |    392 |
| MANIPUR                     |     82 |
| MEGHALAYA                   |     49 |
| MIZORAM                     |     54 |
| NAGALAND                    |     60 |
| ORISSA                      |    570 |
| SIKKIM                      |     15 |
| TRIPURA                     |     60 |
| WEST BENGAL                 |    975 |
| SUB TOTAL EAST              |   3826 |
| CHATTISGARH                 |    368 |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI        |      2 |
| DAMAN & DIU                 |      3 |
| GOA                         |     51 |
| GUJARAT                     |    753 |
| MADHYA PRADESH              |   1231 |
| MAHARASHTRA                 |   1746 |
| SUB TOTAL WEST              |   4154 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH              |    865 |
| KARNATAKA                   |    970 |
| KERALA                      |    587 |
| LAKSHADWEEP                 |      1 |
| PONDICHERRY(INCLUDING MAHE) |     23 |
| TAMILNADU                   |   1174 |
| TELANGANA                   |    686 |
| SUB TOTAL SOUTH             |   4306 |
| ALL INDIA                   |  18481 |

PQ no. 598

| Total number of established cases of malpractice / irregularities byOMC distributors during the period of last three year and current year i.e. 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 & Apr-Dec'16   | Total number of established cases of malpractice / irregularities byOMC distributors during the period of last three year and current year i.e. 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 & Apr-Dec'16   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| STATE/UT                                                                                                                                                                                 | Established no. of cases                                                                                                                                                                 |
| CHANDIGARH                                                                                                                                                                               | 101                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| DELHI                                                                                                                                                                                    | 253                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| HARYANA                                                                                                                                                                                  | 200                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH                                                                                                                                                                         | 14                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR                                                                                                                                                                          | 133                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| PUNJAB                                                                                                                                                                                   | 323                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| RAJASTHAN                                                                                                                                                                                | 388                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| UTTAR PRADESH                                                                                                                                                                            | 1695                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| UTTRANCHAL                                                                                                                                                                               | 84                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| SUB TOTAL NORTH                                                                                                                                                                          | 3191                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ANDAMAN & NICOBAR                                                                                                                                                                        | 0                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH                                                                                                                                                                        | 9                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ASSAM                                                                                                                                                                                    | 162                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| BIHAR                                                                                                                                                                                    | 320                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| JHARKHAND                                                                                                                                                                                | 161                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| MANIPUR                                                                                                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| MEGHALAYA                                                                                                                                                                                | 24                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| MIZORAM                                                                                                                                                                                  | 4                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| NAGALAND                                                                                                                                                                                 | 0                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ORISSA                                                                                                                                                                                   | 258                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| SIKKIM                                                                                                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| TRIPURA                                                                                                                                                                                  | 9                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| WEST BENGAL                                                                                                                                                                              | 257                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| SUB TOTAL EAST                                                                                                                                                                           | 1207                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| CHATTISGARH                                                                                                                                                                              | 104                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI                                                                                                                                                                     | 0                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| DAMAN & DIU                                                                                                                                                                              | 3                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| GOA                                                                                                                                                                                      | 16                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| GUJARAT                                                                                                                                                                                  | 287                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| MADHYA PRADESH                                                                                                                                                                           | 763                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| MAHARASHTRA                                                                                                                                                                              | 608                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| SUB TOTAL WEST                                                                                                                                                                           | 1781                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ANDHRA PRADESH                                                                                                                                                                           | 405                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| KARNATAKA                                                                                                                                                                                | 307                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| KERALA                                                                                                                                                                                   | 279                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| LAKSHADWEEP                                                                                                                                                                              | 0                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| PONDICHERRY                                                                                                                                                                              | 2                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| TAMILNADU                                                                                                                                                                                | 275                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| TELANGANA                                                                                                                                                                                | 139                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| SUB TOTAL SOUTH                                                                                                                                                                          | 1407                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ALL INDIA                                                                                                                                                                                | 7586                                                                                                                                                                                     |

| PQ 598 FOR 06.02.2017 Annexure - III Number of LPG Distributorships terminated on account of   | PQ 598 FOR 06.02.2017 Annexure - III Number of LPG Distributorships terminated on account of   | PQ 598 FOR 06.02.2017 Annexure - III Number of LPG Distributorships terminated on account of   | PQ 598 FOR 06.02.2017 Annexure - III Number of LPG Distributorships terminated on account of   | PQ 598 FOR 06.02.2017 Annexure - III Number of LPG Distributorships terminated on account of   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| STATE/UT                                                                                       | IOC                                                                                            | BPC                                                                                            | HPC                                                                                            | OMCs                                                                                           |
| CHANDIGARH                                                                                     | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| DELHI                                                                                          | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 2                                                                                              |
| HARYANA                                                                                        | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 2                                                                                              |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH                                                                               | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR                                                                                | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| PUNJAB                                                                                         | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| RAJASTHAN                                                                                      | 1                                                                                              | 2                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              |
| UTTAR PRADESH                                                                                  | 2                                                                                              | 9                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              | 14                                                                                             |
| UTTRAKHAND                                                                                     | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| SUB TOTAL NORTH                                                                                | 4                                                                                              | 14                                                                                             | 5                                                                                              | 23                                                                                             |
| ANDAMAN & NICOBAR                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| ASSAM                                                                                          | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| BIHAR                                                                                          | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| JHARKHAND                                                                                      | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| MANIPUR                                                                                        | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| MEGHALAYA                                                                                      | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| MIZORAM                                                                                        | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| NAGALAND                                                                                       | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| ODISHA                                                                                         | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 2                                                                                              |
| SIKKIM                                                                                         | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| TRIPURA                                                                                        | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| WEST BENGAL                                                                                    | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| SUB TOTAL EAST                                                                                 | 0                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 4                                                                                              |
| CHATTISGARH                                                                                    | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI                                                                           | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| DAMAN & DIU                                                                                    | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| GOA                                                                                            | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| GUJARAT                                                                                        | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              |
| MADHYA PRADESH                                                                                 | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| MAHARASHTRA                                                                                    | 1                                                                                              | 6                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 8                                                                                              |
| SUB TOTAL WEST                                                                                 | 3                                                                                              | 7                                                                                              | 2                                                                                              | 12                                                                                             |
| ANDHRA PRADESH                                                                                 | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              |
| KARNATAKA                                                                                      | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              |
| KERALA                                                                                         | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| LAKSHADWEEP                                                                                    | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              |
| PUDUCHERY TAMILNADU                                                                            | 0 1                                                                                            | 0 2                                                                                            | 0 0                                                                                            | 0 3                                                                                            |
| TELANGANA                                                                                      | 0                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              | 0                                                                                              | 3                                                                                              |
| SUB TOTAL SOUTH                                                                                | 2                                                                                              | 7                                                                                              | 1                                                                                              | 10                                                                                             |
| ALL INDIA                                                                                      | 9                                                                                              | 31                                                                                             | 9                                                                                              | 49                                                                                             |