Useful Info - KYC for Indane and other Oil Companies

KYC is the buzz word…… it is not new, you have been asked to file KYC by your Bank, Mutual Fund, Insurer, and so on – but this time by the Gas Agencies……

Know Your Customer (KYC) refers to due diligence activities that financial institutions and other regulated companies must perform to ascertain relevant information from their clients for the purpose of doing business with them. It is primarily to ensure that the persons with whom transact are indeed real entities and legal ones at that.  Know your customer policies  became increasingly important globally to prevent identity theft, financial fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing.

Reserve Bank of India has issued circulars making it mandatory for certain classes of business to prevent Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards and for Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT).  Recently, there appeared in the media reports on the need to file KYC by those availing gas connections.  This has resulted in massive confusion among customers especially in the Capital over the filling of ‘know your customer’ (KYC) form.  The Central Government  earlier stipulated that  the KYC form process should be completed by November 15 and now has extended the deadline till Nov.30th.

From that time, cooking gas agencies are under siege with consumers queuing up for long hours to get their connections revalidated by filling in the 'know your customer' (KYC) form and getting a new customer booklet issued.  No need to panic, as this is applicable only for those having ‘multiple connection’ and not for those having dual cylinders. The LPG control order, 2000 (with amendments), issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, allows only one connection for one household. In order to weed out multiple and fake connections, the three oil companies - Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil Corporation - have asked consumers to voluntarily give up additional connections. The process has been on for over a year but it has now been put on the fast track with the petroleum ministry's decision last month to cap the supply of subsidised LPG at six cylinders per household in a year.

Officials said that multiple connections "in the same name and at the same address" as well as "husband and wife" connections at the same address would be summarily disconnected. In case of multiple connections at same address under different names, distributors have been asked to collect KYC forms to verify genuine users. "There is no need for all LPG consumers to submit KYC. Only those consumers whose names appear on the transparency portal of the respective oil company (the list of names is also with their respective LPG distributors) i.e those who have been identified as owning/using multiple connections need to submit the KYC form. It has to be submitted for new connections too besides during transfer and regularization of existing LPG connections and reactivation of blocked ones.

The Policy is simple : ‘one household, one connection’. If you have more than one household at the same address, then you have to inform your distributor who will come for physical verification. If the distributor is satisfied, then each household will be entitled to a connection,'' said officials. Customers are advised to check the list on the transparency portal of the company. If their name figures on it, only then do they need to submit latest proof of identity and address and fill the KYC form.

The transparency portal is exceptionally good.  Here is the link to the Indane’s transparency portal :  Indane Transparency  It even provides details of the cylinders booked and delivered to you…….

Only those customers whose names appear in the respective oil marketing company’s (OMC) Transparency Portal as identified using /holding multiple LPG connections (the list is also available with your LPG distributor) need to submit the KYC details along with POI and POA before the revised deadline of 15th November 2012.  Customers whose names do not appear in the transparency portal of oil companies as Multiple Connection Holders or in the list available with your distributor need not, repeat need not, submit the KYC details.  Customers holding a single LPG connection need not, therefore, rush to their distributors to submit their KYC details as they are not required to do so as of now.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

21^st Nov. 2012.