Biometric Aadhaar Must For Subsidised LPG From October 1, 89.9% Already Authenticated: Petroleum Ministry

New Delhi: Biometric Aadhaar Authentication (BAA) will be mandatory for domestic LPG consumers to book refills at the regulated retail selling price with applicable subsidy from October 1, 2026, with 27.43 crore active consumers, or 89.9 per cent of the total, having already completed the process, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Saturday.

Consumers who have completed the authentication will not need to take any further action and will continue to receive refills as before, the ministry said.

For consumers who have not completed BAA, subsidised refill booking at the regulated retail selling price will be enabled once authentication is completed. The process can be completed during refill delivery, at the LPG distributor's showroom or through the mobile applications of the three public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs).

Indane customers can use the IndianOil ONE app, Bharatgas customers can use HelloBPCL and HP Gas customers can use HP PAY to complete the authentication from home.

The ministry said consumers who are unwilling or unable to complete BAA can continue to receive LPG, but will have to register their choice through their OMC's digital channels, including consumer portals, mobile apps, WhatsApp chatbots and IVRS. Such consumers will receive LPG at the applicable market price without subsidy, in 5 kg or 10 kg cylinders, subject to local availability.

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

As of Saturday, 27.43 crore active domestic LPG consumers had completed BAA, representing 89.9 per cent coverage.

The government had initially set June 30 as the deadline for authentication, which was subsequently extended several times before the final deadline of September 14.

The ministry said the implicit subsidy on a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder was around Rs 210 in September, compared with Rs 721 in June. To keep domestic LPG affordable, the government is providing OMC compensation of Rs 30,000 crore during FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27.

Accumulated under-recoveries of public sector OMCs on domestic LPG exceeded Rs 62,000 crore as of August 31, 2026, making targeted subsidy delivery important for sustaining the scheme, it said.