HC seeks govt reply on plea against Aadhaar authentication for LPG refill
This story was originally published at 19:12 IST on 30 September 2026
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NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought a response from the Centre on a petition challenging its decision to mandate biometric Aadhar authentication to qualify for liquefied petroleum gas refill at the regulated retail selling price and receive government subsidy from Oct. 1. The court will hear the plea of petitioner Pulkit Luthra, an advocate, on Monday.
The government's decision was arbitrary, disproportionate and violative of the Right to Equality and Right to Life under the Indian Constitution, said the petitioner. It could deprive consumers unwilling or unable to complete biometric authentication of access to regular liquefied petroleum gas cylinders at the regulated retail selling price, said the petitioner.
To be sure, liquefied petroleum gas refill is still available to customers who have not completed their biometric Aadhar authentication. They must register this option on their respective oil marketing company's digital channels. However, these consumers will be supplied LPG at the applicable market price, without any subsidy, in 5 kg or 10 kg cylinders, subject to local availability with the oil marketing company. In September 2026, the implicit subsidy on LPG was about INR 210 for every 14.2 kg cylinder while in June 2026, it had risen to INR 721 per cylinder, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
About 31.60 million domestic LPG consumers had not completed biometric authentication as of Sept. 14, said the petitioner. The new requirement could disproportionately affect elderly persons, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable consumers who may face difficulties completing the authentication process, said the petitioner.
No clear, uniform and readily-accessible fallback mechanism has been prescribed for consumers in cases of persistent biometric failure, said the petitioner. The purported alternative channels do not, by themselves, constitute an alternative means of identification where the underlying requirement remains successful biometric authentication, said the petitioner. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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