Deepam Scheme (Deepam 2.0), Andhra Pradesh

What is the Deepam scheme in Andhra Pradesh?

Deepam is the Andhra Pradesh government's cooking gas scheme for poor households, run by the Civil Supplies Department through the Andhra Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (APSCSCL). In its current form, launched on 31 October 2024 and known as Deepam 2.0, the scheme gives eligible women three free LPG cylinders a year: one every four months.

The two versions of Deepam do different things, and the difference matters. The original Deepam scheme paid for the connection: the deposit, the regulator and the stove for a poor woman-headed household that had never had piped cooking fuel. Deepam 2.0 addresses the problem that replaced it. Millions of households now own a connection but stop refilling it because a 14.2 kg cylinder costs close to a week's wages, and quietly go back to firewood. Deepam 2.0 pays for the refill.

The mechanism is a reimbursement, not a discount at the counter. The beneficiary books and pays the full market price for the cylinder; once delivery is recorded, the amount is credited to her Aadhaar-seeded bank account, normally within 48 hours. The state has budgeted around Rs 2,684 crore a year for the scheme.

The three cycles are timed to the Telugu festival calendar; around Ugadi (March–April), Ganesh Chaturthi (August–September) and Deepavali (October–November), which is where the name Deepam, meaning lamp, comes from.

Who is eligible for Deepam 2.0?

You qualify if:

• You are a woman aged 18 years or above.
• You are a permanent resident of Andhra Pradesh.
• Your household holds a white ration card, the state's below-poverty-line card.
• Your household has a domestic LPG connection with a valid consumer number.
• Your Aadhaar is linked to the ration card and to the LPG connection.
• You have an Aadhaar-seeded bank account in your own name for the credit.

You are not eligible if:

• Your household does not hold a white ration card, households above the poverty line are outside the scheme.
• You are not a resident of Andhra Pradesh.
• The connection is a commercial LPG connection rather than a domestic 14.2 kg one.
• Your family is already drawing the benefit on another connection. Only one connection per family qualifies, so a second connection in the same household cannot claim a parallel set of three refills.
• The connection stands in a man's name and no woman in the household is on the ration card as a member linked to it.

What documents are needed for the Deepam scheme?

Deepam 2.0 does not require an income certificate or a caste certificate. The white ration card already carries the income test, which is why so much depends on that card being current and correctly seeded.

How to apply for and claim the Deepam free cylinder

Deepam 2.0 has no separate application form, the entitlement is read off the ration card and LPG records. What the household has to do is make sure those records line up, and then book in the right window.

1. Check that your household holds a valid white ration card and that the woman's name appears on it. If the card is inactive or a name is missing, get it corrected at the Village or Ward Secretariat, or through the Civil Supplies Department's ration card services.
2. Link Aadhaar to the LPG connection at your gas distributor's office, Bharat Gas, HP Gas or Indane, whichever supplies you — and make sure the name on the connection matches Aadhaar and the ration card.
3. Seed your bank account with Aadhaar at your bank branch. The reimbursement is a Direct Benefit Transfer and will fail without this.
4. Book the cylinder as usual through your distributor; by phone, on the oil company's app, on the IVRS number or at the agency counter.
5. Pay the full price on delivery and keep the delivery receipt showing the date and consumer number.
6. Wait for the credit, normally within 48 hours of the delivery being recorded. Check the bank account or the SMS alert on your registered mobile.
7. Repeat once in each of the three four-monthly cycles. An unused cycle does not carry forward.

How do I check my Deepam status?

1. Ask at your LPG distributor's counter with your consumer number, the distributor can see whether the connection is tagged as eligible and whether the current cycle's free refill has been drawn.
2. Check the Civil Supplies Department portal at apscsc.gov.in and the ration card services on it for the status of your card and its Aadhaar seeding.
3. Visit the Village or Ward Secretariat, where the Volunteer or Welfare Assistant can look up the household record.
4. Check your bank passbook or SMS alerts for the DBT credit against the delivery date.

Why does the Deepam reimbursement fail?

• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded. The single commonest failure. The credit bounces and has to be reissued after seeding.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the ration card and the LPG connection, usually a maiden name on one and a married name on another.
• No white ration card, or a card that has lapsed or been surrendered.
• The cycle's free refill has already been drawn on that connection.
• Two connections in one household, of which only one is eligible.
• Delivery not recorded by the distributor, so the trigger for reimbursement never fires. Keep the delivery receipt to settle this.

Most of these are corrected at two counters: the gas agency for connection and Aadhaar linking, and the Village or Ward Secretariat for ration card issues.

How does Deepam 2.0 sit alongside PMUY and the LPG subsidy?

Deepam 2.0 does not replace the central Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana or the central LPG subsidy, it sits on top of them. A PMUY household in Andhra Pradesh continues to receive whatever central subsidy applies to its refills, and the state's Deepam reimbursement covers the balance so that three refills in the year cost the household nothing net. Households should therefore expect to see credits from two different sources against the same connection, and should not treat the central subsidy credit as the Deepam payment.

The practical consequence is that the bank account used for the LPG subsidy and the account used for Deepam should be the same Aadhaar-seeded account in the woman's name. Where a household has a subsidy going to one account and a ration card seeded to another, one of the two credits usually fails.

What happens if a cycle is missed?

Each of the three four-monthly windows carries one free refill, and an unused window does not carry forward, a household that books no cylinder between March and June cannot draw two free refills in the next window. Households that consume gas slowly should time their booking so that at least one refill falls inside each cycle, even if the cylinder is not yet empty. Households that consume more than three cylinders a year continue to buy the additional refills at the normal price with whatever central subsidy applies.

Where do I complain?

• Your LPG distributor first, quoting the consumer number and delivery date. The majority of Deepam problems are connection-record problems.
• Village or Ward Secretariat for ration card, Aadhaar seeding and household record issues.
• Tahsildar / Civil Supplies office of the mandal, which supervises ration card administration.
• District Supply Officer and the Andhra Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation at apscsc.gov.in for escalation.

No fee is charged for enrolment, for Aadhaar seeding of the LPG connection or for the reimbursement. A distributor asking for a payment to "add your name to Deepam" should be reported to the District Supply Officer.