Lok Sabha Question No. 5331 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: EPOS Device Equipped in Fair Price Shops
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao, Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Shri Jagdambika Pal, Shri Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh, Smt. Kamlesh Jangde, Shri Yogender Chandolia, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri Damodar Agrawal, Shri P P Chaudhary, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Dr. Manna Lal Rawat, Smt. Sanjna Jatav, Shri Captain Brijesh Chowta, Shri Rodmal Nagar, Shri Tejasvi Surya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5331

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25Tll MARCH, 2026

## EPOS DEVICE EQUIPPED IN FAIR PRICE SHOPS

5331. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA  PAL:

SHRI CAPTAIN BRIJESH CHOWTA:

SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:

SHRI LUMBARAM  CHOUDHARY:

SHRI DAMODAR AGRAWAL:

DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA:

SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI DILIP  SAIKIA:

DR. MANNA LAL RAWAT:

SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR  SINGH:

SMT. KAMLESH JAN(,DE:

SMT. SANJNA JATAV:

SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

SHRI YO(,ENDER CHANDOLIA:

SHRI RODMAL NAGAR:

SHRI BIBHU PRASAD TARAI:

SHRI MADHAVANENI RA(,HUNANDAN RAO :

SHRI P P CHAUDHARY:

Will  the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a): whether all Fair Price Shops (FPSs) in the country have been equipped with Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) devices specially in districts under Bharatpur Lok  Sabha Constituency and Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Dakshina Kannada, district-wise  and if  so, the details thereof;
- (b): the number of Fair Price Shops currently integrated with  the Aadhaar-based authentication system in the Country especially in Rajasthan and Pali Lok Sabha Constituency;
- (c): whether the Government operates  a real-time dashboard to monitor Public Distribution System (PDS) transactions in the States particularly  in Chhattisgarh and if  so, the details thereof;
- (d) : the number of ration  cards cancelled due to duplication  or ineligibility after digitization in the country including  Karnataka and Dakshina Kannada;
- (e): whether the Government proposes to integrate  the PDS database with other welfare schemes to ensure targeted benefits in the Country especially in tribal dominated district  like Palghar in Maharashtra; and
- (f): if  so, the details thereon

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## (SHRIMATI NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI BAMBHANIYA)

(a) & (b): More than 5.50 Lakh out of 5.51 Lakh Fair Price Shops (FPSs) i.e. 99.8% in the country have been automated by  installing  e-PoS devices for  the distribution offoodgrains through Aadhaar biometric  authentication of  beneficiaries. Further, the  status of  Fair  Price Shops (FPSs) integrated with e-PoS devices are as follows:

- Rajasthan-24,910  FPSs out of 27263 FPSs
- o Bharatpur- 976 FPSs out of  1018 FPSs
- o Pali-755 FPSs out of 808 FPSs
- Uttar  Pradesh- 73127 FPSs out of 73138 FPSs
- Karnataka-20481 FPSs out of 20862 FPSs
- o Dakshina Kannada- 474 FPSs out of 476 FPSs

(c): The Department is  continuously monitoring the ONORC operations and monthly PDS transactions through  the Central Dashboard namely IM-PDS  Portal (imp(is.nic.in)  which  provide dynamic information/reports  about the portability  as well  as usual PDS transactions happening in the States/UTs (including Chhattisgarh State).

- (d): As an outcome of the use of technology in TPDS operations i.e., digitization of ration cards/beneficiary databases, Aadhaar seeding,  de-duplication process, identification  of ineligible records, deaths, permanent  migration  of beneficiaries,  etc. a total of 50,594 ration cards have been deleted in  the  State of  Karnataka (including  Dakshina Kannada) in  the year 2025. Further, a Statement showing the number of  deleted ration cards in  the country for  the year 2025 is at Annexure.

(e)  &  (f): At  present, there is  no  proposal to  integrate the  Public  Distribution System (PDS) database with  other  welfare  schemes.

However, in  order to  strengthen transparency, improve  data accuracy and enable rightful targeting of  beneficiaries  under NFS A,  the Department has undertaken integration of  the PDS database with databases of  various  Ministries/Departments. This  includes data sharing and validation with entities such as Income Tax Department (CBDT), Ministry  of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTFI), Ministry  of  Corporate Affairs  (MCA),  GST (CBIC)  and UIDAI  among others

Se Ie SeRge qc

## STATUS OF DELETED RATION CARDS IN THE YEAR 2025

| SI.   | State/UT            | Number of deleted ration cards   |
|-------|---------------------|----------------------------------|
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh      | 102                              |
| 2     | Andaman & Nicobar   | 50,681                           |
| 3     | Arunachal Pradesh   | 1,128                            |
| 4     | Assam               | 24,381                           |
| 5     | Bihar               | 1,49,043                         |
| 6     | Vlandigarh          | 2,40 1                           |
| 7     | Chhattisgarh        | 60,496                           |
| 8     | DNH and Daman & Diu | 1,101                            |
| 9     | Delhi               | 11,438                           |
| 10    | Goa                 | 3 ,467                           |
| 11    | Gujarat             | 69, 102                          |
| 12    | Haryana             | a3 ,474                          |
| 13    | Himachal Pradesh    | 7.400                            |
| 14    | Jammu and Kashmir   | 3,036                            |
| 15    | Jharkhand           | W,730                            |
| 16    | Karnataka           | 50,594                           |
| 17    | Kerala              | 7,261                            |
| 18    | Ladakh              | 764                              |
| 19    | Lakshadweep         | 32                               |
| 20    | Madhya Pradesh      | 260,285                          |
| 21    | Maharashtra         | 1,33,469                         |
| 22    | Manipur             | 6,515                            |
| 23    | Meghalaya           | 102                              |
| 24    | Mizoram             | 742                              |
| 25    | Nagaland            | 1,347                            |
| 26    | Odisha              | 1 ,21,134                        |
| 27    | Puducherry          | 763                              |
| 28    | Punjab              | 2,290                            |
| 29    | Rajasthan           | 6,05,826                         |
| 30    | Sikkim              | 2,116                            |
| 31    | Tamil Nadu          | 33,339                           |
| 32    | Telangana           | 1 ,40,947                        |
| 33    | Tripura             | 4,334                            |
| 34    | Uttar Pradesh       | 5,97,012                         |
| 35    | Uttarakhand         | 3,014                            |
|       | Grand Total         | 41,41, 385/-                     |