Every month, the city distributes 1.5 million free condoms to a wide range of outlets, from health clinics to barber shops. Just 18 months ago, before the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched its Internet-ordering system, that number was 250,000.

Now, any group wishing to offer free condoms and lubricant to clients, patrons, or employees can log onto nyccondom.org and request up to 10,000 condoms — and they can make as many requests as they want.

“Effectively, there’s no limit,” the city’s acting assistant commissioner for HIV prevention and control, Adam Karpati, said. “If they want more, we’re happy to do it.”

While organizations must agree to distribute condoms free of charge within the city’s five boroughs, some critics worry that the system is ripe for abuse.

“The city has a hard enough time collecting water bills,” a City Council member, Peter Vallone Jr., said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any follow-up to ensure that people aren’t selling them. There’s a finite amount of resources the city has. It’s bad enough that we’re spending them on giving out free condoms — and I doubt they’re going to spend any more to make sure people aren’t taking advantage of the system.”

Prior to the move online, the city had a more limited condom distribution program through which health clinics and nonprofit groups serving people with HIV or injection drug habits could acquire free condoms by calling the health department or 311.

Last year, the city hired three “condom distribution specialists” to hand out free condoms to retailers in sections of Harlem, Brooklyn, and the Bronx that the city considers particularly “high-need” in the effort to curb the incidence of AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies. One specialist said he travels with a handcart, distributing about 20,000 condoms a week to about 75 barbershops, nail salons, and other small businesses.

While a box of 12 LifeStyles “Ultra Lubricated” condoms can cost more than $10 at a drugstore, the health department has secured the same condoms at 4 cents each — costing the city about $720,000 annually, according to the health department. The city also provides water-based lubricant supplied by LifeStyles.

Those ordering online are asked for their contact information, and for the type of organization with which they are affiliated. Options for “organization type” include “health care/social service,” “movie theater,” “bar or club,” “gyms/health club,” and “correctional facility,” and “commercial sex” — referring to venues such as bathhouses.

City health department officials said that in the 18 months since the online system was implemented, there have been no complaints of fraud, and the city has conducted no fraud investigations of individuals or organizations suspected of abusing the system.

AIDS is the third-leading cause of death — after cancer and heart disease — for New Yorkers under 65, according to health department data. More than 100,000 city residents, or about one in 70, have HIV, though certain groups are far more likely to be infected. One in four men who have sex with men and live in Chelsea, and one in five black men between the ages of 40 and 49, are HIV-positive, city statistics show.

“The city is pushing to get as many condoms out on the street, in wallets, and in pockets as it can,” the deputy director of prevention for Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Sara Gillen, said. Without the city-funded condoms, Harlem United would be forced to devote as much as $10,000 a year to purchase condoms, she said. Ms. Gillen said Harlem United buys some specialty condoms, such as ribbed, studded, or extra-large, for clients who say they would not otherwise use protection.

Harlem United is among some 700 organizations that have ordered free condoms from the city this year. Of those, 55% are nonprofit health care and social service organizations, 26% are health department clinics, and 19% are private, for-profit businesses.

Ansell, the parent company of LifeStyles, was awarded a citywide contract in 2005 based on price, order fulfillment times, and its “Consumer Reports” rating.

Gay Men’s Health Crisis, an AIDS service and advocacy organization, annually distributes to New Yorkers about a half-million condoms — most of which are ordered on the health department Web site, a spokesman, Noel Alicea, said. “Ordering condoms online, like shopping and other services increasingly available online, make the process quick and relatively painless,” Mr. Alicea said. “It’s easy to keep track of orders and relieves a significant budgetary burden from agencies, allowing us to focus on outreach.”

Individuals cannot order free condoms on the health department site, but can pick up condoms at any of the 20 city-funded health clinics in the five boroughs.

Female condoms, which cost about $1 each, are not available online, but can be can be obtained by sending an e-mail to the health department at femalecondom@health.nyc.gov. About 408,000 female condoms, or “femidoms,” were given out between January and November of this year.

Condoms ordered through the health department arrive in about 10 business days.