Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme

What is the Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme?

Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme is a cooking-fuel relief scheme of the Government of NCT of Delhi under which the cost of a domestic LPG refill is returned to an eligible household twice a year, once around Holi and once around Diwali. The Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs is the nodal department.

President Droupadi Murmu dedicated the scheme on 2 March 2026 in Delhi, together with three other schemes aimed at women: the Lakhpati Bitiya Scheme, the Saheli Pink Smart Card, and Meri Poonji Mera Adhikaar. The framing matters for understanding who the scheme is written for. The LPG connection in an Indian household is usually registered in a woman's name, particularly under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and the free-cylinder benefit follows that registration rather than the head of the household.

The mechanism is a reimbursement, not a free delivery. A household books and pays for its refill in the normal way from its regular distributor, and the amount is credited afterwards by direct benefit transfer into the Aadhaar-linked bank account attached to the connection. Nothing about the booking process changes, and there is no special coupon, voucher or counter.

Two design consequences follow from that. First, a household that is not seeded with Aadhaar at the distributor, or whose bank account is not Aadhaar-linked, cannot be paid at all even if it is otherwise eligible. Second, the amount credited differs between an ordinary domestic connection and a Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana connection, because an Ujjwala refill already carries a central subsidy that is credited separately, the state benefit tops up the balance rather than duplicating the central payment.

Who is eligible for the Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme?

A household can receive the benefit if:

• It is a permanent Delhi household, with the LPG connection registered at a Delhi service address.
• It holds a valid, active domestic LPG connection with a recognised oil marketing company distributor: Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum or Hindustan Petroleum.
• The connection is seeded with Aadhaar at the distributor.
• The bank account is Aadhaar-linked and active, so a direct benefit transfer can land.
• Refills are actually booked and taken during the relevant festival window.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries in Delhi are included. Households that have moved to a piped natural gas connection have also been described as covered in reporting on the cabinet decision, though a PNG household should confirm its position with the department before assuming an LPG-shaped benefit applies to it.

A household cannot apply, or is not eligible, if:

• The connection is a commercial LPG connection. The scheme is limited to domestic cooking gas.
• The household is outside the National Capital Territory of Delhi. A connection registered in Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad or Gurugram is not covered even if a family member works in Delhi.
• The LPG connection is inactive, surrendered or in another person's name who no longer lives at the address.
• Aadhaar seeding is missing at the distributor, or the bank account is not Aadhaar-linked. This is not a permanent disqualification, it is a fixable one, and fixing it is the single most useful thing a household can do.
• The household attempts to claim more than one connection's benefit. Duplicate connections at one address are exactly what the seeding check is designed to catch.

There is no separate income certificate, caste condition or age criterion published for the scheme. Identification runs off connection records and the household databases the department already holds, which is why no form is prescribed.

What documents are required for the Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme?

Notice what is not on this list: there is no application form, no affidavit, no income certificate and no photograph. If someone asks you for these to "register" for a free cylinder, that is not part of the scheme.

How to apply for the Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme

There is no application form. The steps below are the ones that actually determine whether the money reaches you.

1. Confirm your connection is active and domestic. Check the latest refill receipt from your distributor, and confirm the connection is registered at your Delhi address.
2. Check Aadhaar seeding at the distributor. Visit your LPG distributor with your Aadhaar card and consumer number, and ask them to confirm; or complete — Aadhaar seeding against the connection. This is the step most missing payments trace back to.
3. Check bank seeding. Confirm with your bank that the account attached to the connection is Aadhaar-seeded for DBT, not merely that Aadhaar is recorded in the KYC file. Ask for the DBT seeding status in writing or by SMS confirmation.
4. Update your mobile number with both the distributor and the bank, so that the booking confirmation and the credit alert both reach you.
5. Book and take your refill in the normal way during the festival window, paying the distributor the usual amount at delivery.
6. Verify the credit afterwards in your bank passbook or statement, and in the refill history shown in the Indian Oil, Bharat Gas or HP Gas app against that booking.
7. If the amount does not arrive, take the refill receipt and the bank statement back to the distributor first, and then to the Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

How much is paid and when?

The benefit is described as one free cylinder at Holi and one at Diwali, and it reaches the household as a reimbursement of the refill cost rather than as a discount at the point of delivery. Because the retail price of a 14.2 kg domestic cylinder changes month to month, the rupee value of the transfer moves with it, which is why the department expresses the benefit as a cylinder rather than as a fixed amount.

Two important qualifications belong here.

Ujjwala households receive a smaller state transfer. A Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana refill already attracts a central subsidy credited to the same account. The state benefit is set so that the household's net outlay for the festival refill is covered, not so that a subsidy is paid twice.

The timing is festival-linked, not monthly. A household that expects a credit in a month with no festival refill will not find one. Holi and Diwali fall on different dates each year, so the two payment windows shift with the calendar.

How to check whether your free LPG amount was credited

1. Open your bank passbook or statement for the fortnight after the refill and look for a DBT credit entry against the LPG connection.
2. Open the oil marketing company's app or website; Indian Oil, Bharat Gas or HP Gas: sign in with your consumer number or registered mobile number, and open the refill history, which lists the subsidy and transfer entries booking by booking.
3. Ask your distributor for a refill and transfer statement, which they can print against your consumer number.
4. If your bank account is the problem, check the NPCI Aadhaar mapper status at your bank branch. An Aadhaar number can be linked to only one account for DBT, and a credit fails silently when the mapping points at an old, dormant account.

Why the free LPG benefit does not reach some households

• Aadhaar not seeded with the LPG connection at the distributor.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded for DBT, or seeded against a closed or dormant account.
• Name mismatch between the Aadhaar record, the connection record and the bank account.
• Connection registered outside Delhi, or at an address the household has since left.
• Commercial connection used domestically, which the scheme does not cover.
• No refill taken in the festival window, since the benefit reimburses an actual refill rather than paying an unconditional grant.
• Duplicate connections at one address, where only one can qualify.

Almost all of these are correctable at the distributor's counter in a single visit, which is why a household that missed one festival window can usually be paid at the next one.

Where do I complain about the Delhi Free LPG Cylinder Scheme?

• Your LPG distributor first, for seeding, consumer number and refill record problems. Ask for the correction in writing with a date stamp.
• The oil marketing company's own customer care, printed on your refill receipt and on your connection booklet, for a distributor who refuses to act.
• National Consumer Helpline 1967, the number used for food, supplies and consumer affairs complaints, for a Delhi-side grievance about the scheme.
• Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Government of NCT of Delhi, at fsd.delhi.gov.in, which publishes circulars, the Public Distribution System rules and the department's grievance route. Ration card and PDS records are handled through nfs.delhi.gov.in and the Delhi e-District portal at edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in.

Nothing in this scheme requires a payment to anyone. There is no registration fee, no agent, and no "free cylinder card" to be bought. No official will ask for your Aadhaar OTP or your bank OTP to release the transfer, and anyone who does is attempting fraud.

A note on what is and is not confirmed

Delhi announced this scheme recently, and the department has not published a consolidated scheme page with the full notification text at the time of writing. The launch date of 2 March 2026 and the framing of the scheme as one of four women-focused schemes dedicated by the President are confirmed from official sources. Figures circulating for the per-cylinder transfer amount and the scheme budget come from press reporting of the cabinet decision rather than from a published departmental order, so treat any specific rupee figure you see elsewhere as provisional until the Department of Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs issues the notification on fsd.delhi.gov.in.