New Delhi, 20 March 2026 – The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) warns that extending biometric Aadhaar authentication requirements for LPG users could make access to a basic cooking fuel impossible, especially as poorer households and small businesses are already navigating supply constraints.
Although positioned as a measure to improve subsidy targeting and reduce misuse, the rule effectively conditions continued access to an essential household service on successful digital identity authentication. CCC warns that such frameworks can unintentionally exclude the most vulnerable consumers who face technological barriers, authentication errors, or inconsistent internet access.
Shrey Madaan, Indian Policy Associate at the Consumer Choice Center, said:
“Cooking fuel is not a discretionary service. When access depends on biometric verification, even small compliance gaps can translate into real disruptions for families who rely on LPG for daily survival.”
The verification requirement is being implemented amid broader market stress linked to geopolitical supply shocks and distribution pressures. CCC notes that introducing additional compliance steps during periods of scarcity risks amplifying uncertainty rather than strengthening consumer confidence.
Although authorities emphasise that the process can be completed via mobile applications, the organisation notes that not all consumers have smartphones, digital literacy, or reliable biometric verification capabilities.
“Policy must account for how people actually live,” Madaan added. “Digital verification systems can improve transparency, but making them gatekeepers for essential services risks excluding legitimate users rather than stopping organised diversion.”
CCC further cautions that tying welfare delivery to recurring identity verification may gradually normalise conditional access models across essential sectors, undermining the idea of free and equal people inherent in democracy. The organisation urges policymakers to prioritise targeted enforcement against misuse while ensuring uninterrupted and friction-free access to cooking fuel for genuine beneficiaries.
“Energy security at the household level depends on predictability,” Madaan concluded. “Safeguards should strengthen trust in the system, not create new anxieties about whether essential fuel will be available when needed.”
