CHENNAI: The biometric Aadhaar authentication for LPG connection that it mandated was applicable only for unauthorised customers, clarified the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Tuesday. This will not affect the request for refills, the ministry added.
The clarification on eKYC was issued after questions were raised from several quarters about the legal validity of the mandate, as the Supreme Court had made it clear that the Aadhaar linkage should only be done in the case of services that the people avail, which carries a subsidy from government funds.
The circular on biometric Aadhaar authentication was not a fresh direction, but only part of the ongoing efforts to encourage more LPG consumes to complete the procedure, it claimed.
The requirement is applicable only to those who have not done the biometric Aadhaar authentication till now, while those who have already done it need not do it again, the ministry said.
"The supply of refills is not affected in any case," it said.