Last updated: 23 September 2026
If you have been getting SMS and WhatsApp reminders from your gas company about “eKYC” and ignoring them, now is the time to stop. From 1 October 2026, completing biometric Aadhaar authentication becomes a condition for booking your domestic LPG refill at the regulated, subsidised price.
The good news: it is free, it can be done from home in a few minutes, and if you have already done it at some point since 2023, you don’t need to do anything at all.
This guide covers what the rule actually says, the three ways to complete it, and what to do when it fails — which it does, more often than the reminders let on.
What Changes on 1 October 2026
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced on 19 September that from 1 October, domestic LPG consumers need to have completed Biometric Aadhaar Authentication — usually just called eKYC — to book refills at the regulated retail price with the applicable subsidy.
The deadline had been pushed back several times before this. It started at 30 June 2026 and moved through July, August and early September. The 1 October date is the one now in force.
By 19 September, around 27.43 crore active domestic consumers — roughly 90 per cent — had already completed it. If you are in the remaining 10 per cent, this page is for you.
What Happens If You Don’t Do It
This is the part most forwarded messages get wrong, so let’s be precise.
You will not lose your connection, and you will still get cylinders. What you lose is the regulated price. Consumers without authentication can still buy domestic LPG, but at the applicable market price without subsidy. The difference is not small — the government put the implicit support on a 14.2 kg cylinder at around ₹210 in September 2026.
Consumers who are unable or unwilling to authenticate are expected to register that choice through their company’s app, portal or WhatsApp channel.
And the door isn’t closed for good. Once you complete authentication later, access to the regulated price comes back.
Check First: Have You Already Done It?
Before doing anything, check. Plenty of people completed eKYC during a delivery or at a camp without realising what the delivery person was doing with their thumb and a phone.
Open your gas company’s app, go to your connection or profile section, and look for the eKYC or Aadhaar authentication status. It should say completed or pending.
If it says completed, you are done. Nothing further is needed for regular consumers — the Ministry has said explicitly that non-Ujjwala consumers who authenticated before do not have to repeat it.
What You Need Before You Start
- A smartphone with a working camera, for the home method
- Your Aadhaar number
- The mobile number linked to your Aadhaar — the OTP comes there, not necessarily to your gas-registered number
- The connection holder in person. The authentication is of the person the connection is in the name of. If the connection is in your father’s name, it is his face or thumb that is needed, not yours.
That last point catches a lot of families out, especially when the connection holder lives elsewhere or is elderly. Sort that out first.
Method 1: At Home, Using Your Phone
This is the fastest route if the connection holder has a smartphone or is with someone who does. It uses face authentication, so no fingerprint scanner is needed.
You need two apps installed:
- Your gas company’s official app — IndianOil ONE for Indane, the HP Gas app, or the Bharat Gas / Hello BPCL app.
- Aadhaar FaceRD — UIDAI’s official face authentication app. It runs in the background; you don’t operate it directly.
Then:
- Log in to your gas company’s app and open the eKYC or Aadhaar authentication option.
- Enter the Aadhaar number of the connection holder and give consent.
- The app hands over to FaceRD, which opens the front camera.
- Hold the phone at face level in good light and follow the on-screen prompt — usually a blink.
- Wait for the success message, and take a screenshot of it.
The official portal also has video tutorials for each company’s self-eKYC flow on the PMUY eKYC page, which is worth a look if the steps in your app look different from the above.
Method 2: When Your Cylinder Is Delivered
Delivery staff carry company apps that can do the authentication on the spot, usually with a fingerprint on a small scanner attached to their phone.
This works well for elderly connection holders or anyone uncomfortable with apps. The only catch is that the connection holder needs to be at home when the cylinder arrives. If you book knowing that, mention it to the delivery person when they come.
Ask for confirmation before they leave — the status should update, and you can check it in the app later.
Method 3: At Your Distributor’s Office
Walk in with the connection holder and their Aadhaar card, and the staff do it at the counter. Many distributors have also been running camps over the past few months, particularly in rural areas.
If the counter is crowded close to the deadline — and it will be — the home method is worth one more try before you queue.
When eKYC Fails, and What to Do
Face authentication keeps failing
Usually light or angle. Sit facing a window, not with a window behind you. Remove glasses. Hold the phone steady at eye level rather than below the chin. If it fails three or four times, stop and try fingerprint authentication at delivery or at the distributor instead.
Fingerprints don’t register
Common with elderly people and anyone who does manual work. The fingerprint ridges simply wear down. The rules allow face or iris authentication as alternatives when fingerprints fail — ask for face authentication, or ask the distributor about assisted capture.
OTP not coming
The OTP goes to the mobile number linked to the Aadhaar, which may not be the number registered with your gas agency. If the Aadhaar-linked number is old or lost, that has to be updated with Aadhaar first, at an Aadhaar enrolment centre. Your gas distributor cannot fix this.
Name doesn’t match
If the name on the gas connection and the name on Aadhaar differ significantly, authentication can be rejected. Small spelling differences are sometimes fine; a completely different name (common where the connection is still in a deceased family member’s name) is not. That needs a name change on the connection first.
The app says done but status still shows pending
Give it a day. If it still hasn’t updated, take your success screenshot to the distributor.
For Ujjwala (PMUY) Beneficiaries
The rule works a little differently for you. Ujjwala beneficiaries need to authenticate once every financial year to receive the targeted ₹300 per-cylinder subsidy on the 8th and 9th refills of the 14.2 kg cylinder in that year (or from the 21st refill onwards on 5 kg cylinders).
So even if you did it last year, check whether this year’s authentication has been done.
Watch Out for eKYC Scams
Every deadline brings fraud with it, and this one is no exception. Keep three things in mind:
- eKYC is completely free. Anyone asking for a fee — at your door, on the phone, on WhatsApp — is not from your gas company.
- Only download apps from the official store, and check that the developer is the actual oil company or UIDAI. Never install an app from a link sent to you.
- Never share your Aadhaar OTP over the phone. The OTP is entered by you, in the app, on your own phone. Nobody legitimate will call and ask you to read it out.
If a call claims your connection will be “blocked tomorrow” unless you pay or share an OTP, hang up. As covered above, connections are not being blocked at all.
Quick Answers
Is eKYC compulsory?
It is compulsory to get the regulated, subsidised price from 1 October 2026. Without it you can still buy cylinders, at the market price.
I did eKYC in 2024. Do I need to do it again?
No, not for a regular connection. Ujjwala beneficiaries need to do it once each financial year for the targeted subsidy.
Can someone else do it on the connection holder’s behalf?
No. It is a biometric check of the connection holder. Someone can help with the phone, but the face or fingerprint has to be theirs.
The connection holder has passed away. What now?
The connection needs to be transferred to a legal heir first. eKYC is then done in the new holder’s name.
Does eKYC cost anything?
No. Not at home, not at delivery, not at the distributor.
Before You Go
Check the status in your app today. If it says completed, close this page and forget about it. If it says pending, the phone method takes less time than it took to read this — and the deadline is close enough that distributor counters are going to get crowded in the last week.
If you hit an error that isn’t covered here, send us the exact message your app showed. We will add the fix so the next person doesn’t get stuck on the same screen.