Chandigarh: Crediting the ration subsidy is proving easier than spending it for thousands of beneficiaries in Chandigarh. Since the administration replaced direct benefit transfer (DBT) with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) tokens, ration cardholders have been facing hurdles in redeeming the digital credits for purchases at fair price shops.Sept figures highlight the gap between disbursement and actual use: Of around 53,000 beneficiaries who received the subsidy, only about 30,000 managed to utilise it.The figures mark a sharp fall from Aug, when around 43,000 of the 52,000 beneficiaries used their subsidy. In other words, more than two in five beneficiaries who received the September subsidy did not redeem their tokens during the recorded period.The shift has introduced an additional digital layer between receiving the subsidy and buying essential food items. Beneficiaries must use the PNB Digital Rupee app, while shopkeepers need a functioning CBDC application to complete transactions.OTP authentication failures, mobile connectivity problems, wallet-related glitches and transaction-processing errors have emerged as obstacles at the point of redemption, said an official of the UT food supply department.Chandigarh Administration has acknowledged that crediting tokens and redeeming them are two separate stages. A successful transfer to a beneficiary’s digital wallet does not guarantee that the amount can be used at a ration shop. Authentication and transaction processing must work on both the beneficiary’s and merchant’s applications.The Sept subsidy was credited to around 53,000 ration cards on Oct 26, but approximately 2,500 cards were rejected during the payment process.The administration said such cases require additional processing because the CBDC mechanism involves several interconnected platforms, including the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Public Financial Management System (PFMS), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and banks. Data validation, wallet onboarding and technical synchronisation have added to the delays.“The department is coordinating with the bank concerned and NIC to resolve redemption-related problems and assist beneficiaries and merchants. It is also moving from manual processing to automation to improve the system’s reliability,” said Mohamed Mansoor L, secretary, food and supply department.The transition is significant because the earlier DBT mechanism had been in operation for nearly a decade, with subsidies transferred directly into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.CBDC tokens replaced that arrangement from Aug, restricting the use of subsidy funds to foodgrains and other essential food commodities while giving beneficiaries flexibility to choose their food basket, including wheat, rice and pulses.The scheme was launched on Aug 14 by Union agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Tagore Theatre as a technology-driven intervention to make the public distribution system more transparent and targeted.In A Nutshell:Around 22,000: Ration cards for which September subsidy was not utilised, as per the monthly utilisation statement.26 percentage points: Drop in utilisation between August and September.Around 80,000 to around 57,000: Approximate decline in ration cards between January and November 2026.2,500: Cards reportedly rejected during the September subsidy payment process.The change has also coincided with a contraction in the beneficiary base. Chandigarh had approximately 80,000 ration cards in January 2026, compared with around 57,000 in November. About 1,500 new cards have since been issued, including to some beneficiaries whose earlier cards were deleted.Under National Food Security Act, 2013, Chandigarh has been authorised to enrol around 4.75 lakh beneficiaries. Before implementation of CBDC, there were about 3.50 lakh beneficiaries enrolled, which was about 1.25 lakh less than the allocated quota. After implementation of this new scheme, the beneficiary base reduced to 2.28 lakh beneficiaries.
