LPG subsidy to pass Aadhaar gate from October 1: What consumers need to know

Domestic LPG consumers will need to complete Biometric Aadhaar Authentication (BAA) from October 1 to book refills at the regulated retail selling price with applicable subsidy, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Saturday.

The government said the authentication exercise is aimed at ensuring that subsidised LPG reaches “only genuine and deserving households” while preventing diversion of domestic cylinders for commercial and industrial use and removing duplicate or ineligible connections.

27.43 crore consumers already authenticated

The government said 27.43 crore active domestic LPG consumers, or 89.9% of the total, had completed BAA as of September 19. Those consumers do not need to take any further action and their refills will continue as before.

For consumers who have not completed authentication, booking a refill at the regulated price with subsidy will be enabled once the process is completed.

BAA can be completed in multiple ways. Consumers can authenticate themselves during refill delivery, visit their LPG distributor's showroom, or use the mobile application of their respective oil marketing company — IndianOil ONE for Indane, HelloBPCL for Bharatgas and HP PAY for HP Gas.

What happens if you don't complete Aadhaar authentication?

Importantly, the government has clarified that failure to complete BAA does not mean consumers will be denied LPG altogether.

Consumers who are unwilling or unable to complete the authentication can register their choice through their OMC's website, mobile app, WhatsApp chatbot or IVRS. They can continue receiving LPG at the applicable market price without subsidy, through 5-kg or 10-kg cylinders, subject to local availability.

The ministry said the authentication process “is not meant to deny LPG to any genuine household” and that eligible consumers have several options to complete it.

Why is the government tightening the subsidy system?

The move comes against the backdrop of a significant government financial burden from keeping domestic LPG prices affordable.

The ministry said the implicit subsidy on a 14.2-kg cylinder is around ₹210 in September 2026, compared with ₹721 in June. The government paid oil marketing companies ₹22,000 crore in compensation in FY23 and is paying ₹30,000 crore each in FY26 and FY27.

Despite this support, accumulated under-recoveries of public-sector OMCs on domestic LPG had crossed ₹62,000 crore as of August 31, 2026.

“Directing the subsidy only to genuine consumers is essential to sustaining it,” the ministry said.

Deadline was extended several times

The BAA deadline was initially set for June 30 but was subsequently extended multiple times — to July 31, August 7, August 15, August 23, August 31, September 7 and finally September 14.

The nationwide authentication drive has been running since October 2023, with OMCs sending more than 12 crore SMS and WhatsApp messages and conducting camps and outreach programmes to reach consumers who had not completed the process.

Consumers requiring assistance with LPG services can contact the government helpline at 1800 2333 555.