Lok Sabha Question No. 2339 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-03
Subject: Allotment of LPG Agencies
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Sunil Dattatray Tatkare

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2339 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 rd  AUGUST, 2023

## ALLOTMENT OF LPG AGENCIES

## 2339. SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

## पेोिलयम एवं ाक ृ ितक गैस मं ी

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

(a) the details of the procedure/norms/criteria laid down for allotment of LPG agencies and reservation made for SC/ST/Minorities including defence personnel along with the action taken against those persons who violate these norms;

(b) the details of LPG agencies opened at present by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) under various schemes  including  for  reserved  categories  in  Maharashtra  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the current year, year and OMC-wise;

- (c)  whether  the  distribution/awarding  of  LPG  dealership  is  being  done  online  to  bring  in  more transparency in awarding distributorships and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government also proposes to reorganise the distributors of LPG all over the country to meet the demand of common people; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the details of any consultation with the concerned States and oil companies in this regard and the outcome thereof, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## पेोिलयम एवं ाक ृ ितक गैस मंालय म राय मंी ( ी रामेर तेली ) MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a) to (e) The process of applying for LPG distributorship has been greatly simplified and a transparent online selection process is in place. All applicants are required to submit their application on web-based portal https://www.lpgvitarakchayan.in. The online selection process includes, online receipt of application, processing and online draw of lots etc. Online draw of lots is conducted by M/s Metal Scrap Trade  Corporation  Ltd.(MSTC),  a  Central  Public  Sector  Undertaking,  with  assistance  of  National Informatics Centre(NIC).

The main norms/criteria laid down in the revised guidelines, namely, Unified Guidelines for Selection of LPG Distributorships 2016,  are as under :-

- i. Applicant shall be an Indian citizen and be a resident of India.
- ii. Applicant  should  have  passed  minimum  Xth  standard  examination  or  equivalent  from  a recognised  Board.  The  criterion  of  educational  qualification  is  not  applicable  for  applicant belonging to Freedom Fighter (FF) category.
- iii. Applicant should be not less than 21 years and not more than 60 years in age as on the date of advertisement. There is no age restriction for applicants applying for locations reserved under FF category.
- iv. Applicant shall not be a family member of employee of Oil Marketing Company(OMC) as on date of application.
- v. Applicant shall fulfil Multiple Dealership/Distributorship norms.
- vi. Applicant shall not be a signatory to distributorship/dealerships agreement, terminated on account of proven cases of malpractices/adulteration.
- vii. Applicant shall own a plot of land of minimum dimensions for construction of LPG godown or own a ready LPG cylinder storage godown as on the last date for submission of application.

The percentage reservation for various categories in all the States except Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram are as under: -

| A   | Open Category (O)                          | 50.5%   |
|-----|--------------------------------------------|---------|
| B   | Schedule Castes / Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) | 22.5%   |
| C   | Other Backward Classes (OBC)               | 27.0%   |

In each of the above categories, sub-categories are as under:-

|                                                     | Reservation Categories (in %)   | Reservation Categories (in %)   | Reservation Categories (in %)   | Reservation Categories (in %)   |
|-----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Sub-Category                                        | SC/ST                           | OBC                             | Open                            | Total                           |
| Government Personnel category (GP)*                 | 2                               | 2                               | 4                               | 8                               |
| Divyang/ Physically Handicapped Personnel (PH)      | 1                               | 1                               | 1                               | 3                               |
| Combined Category (CC)                              | 0                               | 0                               | 1                               | 1                               |
| Women                                               | 7                               | 9                               | 17                              | 33                              |
| Unreserved -Any person from the respective category | 12.5                            | 15                              | 27.5                            | 55                              |
| Total                                               | 22.5                            | 27                              | 50.5                            | 100                             |

The reservation under respective categories is  SC/ST (GP)-2%, SC/ST (PH)-1%, SC/ST (W)-7%, SC/ST-12.5%, OBC (GP)-2%, OBC (PH)-1%, OBC (W)-9%, OBC-15%, Open (GP) - 4%, Open (PH)1%, Open (CC)-1%, Open (W)-17%, Open-27.5%.

## Reservation for North Eastern States

Reservations in tribal areas in North Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram are  as under:

| State             |   Percentage of reservation in all four types of LPG Distributorships to be awarded to ST category |   %for Women category |   Balance %to be awarded to open category |
|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Arunachal Pradesh |                                                                                                 49 |                    30 |                                        21 |
| Meghalaya         |                                                                                                 56 |                    30 |                                        14 |
| Nagaland          |                                                                                                 56 |                    30 |                                        14 |
| Mizoram           |                                                                                                 63 |                    30 |                                         7 |

Category wise/year wise details of LPG distributorships commissioned by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) during the last three years and in the current year in the State of Maharashtra are as under:

| Period                |   SC/ST |   OBC |   Others |   Total |
|-----------------------|---------|-------|----------|---------|
| 2020-21               |       8 |    11 |       15 |      34 |
| 2021-22               |       8 |     3 |        4 |      15 |
| 2022-23               |       2 |     0 |        8 |      10 |
| 2023-24(Upto June 23) |       1 |     1 |        1 |       3 |
| Total                 |      19 |    15 |       28 |      62 |

Source-Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies

To provide better customer satisfaction and impetus for distributors for providing better services, LPG consumers have been given the choice to switch from his/her present distributor to another distributor within  area,  as  per  his/her  choice  under  the  portability  facility.  Further,  the  LPG  customers  can  also switch to a new distributor at the time of booking of refill.

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