LPG e-KYC deadline extended to Aug 23 but server crashes and app failures still blocking millions

The LPG e-KYC deadline has been pushed by a week, from August 16 to August 23, but for millions of consumers trying to complete the mandatory Aadhaar authentication, the extra time has done little to ease the ordeal, according to a report by The Times of India. Server outages lasting hours, malfunctioning apps and an overwhelmed digital infrastructure have turned what should be a simple process into a daily gamble.

The result: long queues at LPG dealerships, consumers waiting for hours with no certainty that their e-KYC will be completed by the time they reach the counter.

What the extension has and hasn't fixed

The week-long extension was meant to relieve the pressure that had been building toward August 16. But dealers say the technical problems have followed the deadline into the new window, limiting throughput just as before, only now over seven additional days rather than one crunch point, according to TOI.

The core vulnerability is structural. The entire e-KYC process runs on the oil marketing companies' digital infrastructure. When their servers go down, or their apps respond slowly, nothing moves, regardless of how many staff are at the counter or how many consumers have shown up with the right documents. During prolonged outages, queues stand still while new people keep joining the back of the line.

What consumers are experiencing

For dealers, a single server outage can wipe out an entire day's schedule and push the backlog onto the next. For consumers who have already lost hours at the dealership, the revised August 23 deadline provides limited comfort unless the systems stay functional consistently.