The government on Monday asked all 33 crore-plus domestic LPG consumers to complete their biometric Aadhaar-based authentication even as it described the current LPG situation as “worrisome but under control”.“All domestic LPG consumers are required to complete Aadhaar authentication (e-KYC)… Now verify from the comfort of your home using your oil marketing company’s mobile app and Aadhaar FaceRD app,” the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on X, in a move that invited a sharp reaction from the Opposition.The annual authentication by Aadhaar is needed for Pradhan Matri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries in order to enable them to avail of subsidies on cooking gas. There are over 10.56 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries. Under the scheme, biometric Aadhaar authentication is needed every financial year to receive Rs 300 targeted subsidy on the eighth and ninth refills.Even if this is not done, and e-KYC is not completed, subsidy continues till the seventh refill but stops after that and then it will resume once Aadhaar authentication is done.Apart from this, the government today said efforts were on to encourage a switch from LPG to piped natural gas and city gas distribution forms had extended incentives to promote the switch. “The idea is to ease the pressure on LPG supplies,” Petroleum Ministry Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma said, adding 90 per cent of domestic LPG bookings were now online, which was a good sign.”The current situation is worrying. But LPG is being supplied to our domestic LPG consumers to meet all their requirements. There are no reports of dry-outs at any LPG distributorship,” Sharma said.Online bookings upOnline LPG bookings have risen from 84 per cent to nearly 90 per cent. Delivery Authentication Code system aimed at preventing diversion of cylinders has been expanded from 53 per cent coverage before the crisis to 72 per cent.States issue ordersBihar, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Manipur and Maharashtra have issued orders regulating the allocation of non-domestic LPG in line with central guidelines. States have also stepped up enforcement action to prevent hoarding and black marketing. Raids have been conducted in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram.Officials of public sector oil marketing companies have also carried out surprise inspections at more than 1,100 petrol pumps and LPG distributorships across the country.Indraprastha Gas, the retailer of CNG and piped cooking gas (PNG) in Delhi and NCR, is offering domestic LPG consumers free gas worth Rs 500 if they took a PNG connection and started using it before March 31.Mumbai-retailer Mahanagar Gas Ltd has extended incentives, including a waiver of Rs 500 registration charge for domestic household consumers and Rs 1-5 lakh security deposit for commercial users. Promotional measures had been introduced by GAIL and BPCL, said Sharma.The government said daily LPG refill requests and bookings had plummeted to pre-war levels of 50-55 lakh on Sunday from about 77 lakh a day before and 88.8 lakh on March 13. “But it remains to be seen if this was a permanent trend or a one-off decline primarily due to March 15 being a Sunday,” she added.The government said consumers could switch to commercial PNG connections by contacting city gas distribution companies through e-mail, customer portals, letters or call centres. “Where pipelines already exist, connections can be provided in the shortest possible time,” she said.Meanwhile, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has asked city gas distribution entities to accelerate network expansion and shorten timelines for providing connections.The Centre maintained that overall fuel availability in the country remained stable. “Crude oil supplies remain adequate and refineries are operating at high capacity, with petrol pumps functioning normally and no dry-outs reported anywhere. Natural gas supply remains uninterrupted, with 100 percent availability for CNG and PNG consumers. Gas supply to industrial and commercial consumers is being regulated at around 80 per cent,” Sharma said.