Ghaziabad: LPG consumers in the city who have still not completed e-KYC verification will get one final opportunity, with the deadline extended to Sept 30. Officials said those who fail to complete the process by then will have to buy cylinders at commercial rates.The deadline has been extended for the fifth time after the oil companies initially fixed Aug 15 as the last date. It was subsequently extended to Aug 23, Sept 7 and Sept 14. A senior official said the cost of a cylinder could go up to Rs 1,600 under commercial pricing, against around Rs 1,000 currently being charged to eligible consumers who have completed the e-KYC.According to district supply officer (DSO) Amit Tiwari, around 1.65 lakh consumers in Ghaziabad are yet to complete their e-KYC despite the extensions. He urged consumers to complete the e-KYC before the latest deadline, as this will be the final extension.Ghaziabad has more than 100 LPG agencies serving over 12 lakh consumers. LPG supplies to nearly 2.5 lakh consumers were suspended until June because of incomplete e-KYC, while new connections were also put on hold during the period, officials said.Officials said the oil companies have held meetings with LPG distributors and directed them to speed up the e-KYC process. Distributors have been asked to ensure that the maximum possible number of consumers complete the verification before the Sept 30 deadline.Consumers who are currently staying outside their registered area can complete their e-KYC through the nearest LPG distributor. They can also complete the process themselves through the respective oil company’s mobile application by creating an account, officials said.The supply department has also started verifying consumers who have failed to complete e-KYC despite repeated opportunities. Officials said some of the pending connections may belong to consumers who have died, shifted from Ghaziabad or otherwise become inactive. Once the verification is completed, authorities may consider permanently deactivating connections that are found to be no longer valid.Another challenge is that many consumers have changed their mobile numbers without updating them in the LPG records, making it difficult for distributors and authorities to contact them, an official said.After e-KYC access was stopped earlier, several consumers approached govt offices with complaints. Following these representations, officials took up the matter with oil companies and sought another opportunity for consumers to complete the verification.
