CHENNAI: Households having multiple Indane cooking gas connections will soon find the distributors refusing to supply refills for more than one connection (with two cylinders).

A circular issued by the Indian Oil Corporation area office that controls the operations across a few districts besides Chennai says: "All distributors are advised to stop supplies for the multiple connections ... with immediate effect."

Though the circular was issued last month, the distributors have started acting on it only recently, according to sources. Refill supplies should be made against only one connection. Further, customers having multiple connections should be advised to surrender all but one immediately.

Towards detecting the multiple connections, details about the connection, such as the consumer number, the agency and whether it is a single and double cylinder should be endorsed on the ration card. The distributors should enter the details in their records.

If the customer does not produce a ration card, they should produce `no ration card' certificate in original from the Civil Supplies Department.

Under the process aimed at eliminating unauthorised connections, customers, however, would get "sufficient time" (up to 60 days) for producing the ration card or the certificate.

"Under no circumstance, more than one entry of the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connection should be made in the ration card," the circular says.

The distributors have been asked to maintain a minimum of 21 days between two refill supplies.

"However, refills can be booked by the customer immediately on receipt of a refill."

The company has also instructed the distributors to release new connections only against ration card or `no ration card certificate.'

Only one connection should be released against a ration card.

Sources among distributors said several thousand households without ration cards that got new connections after promising to furnish the certificate, within three months, ran the risk of losing the connection. The situation prevailed, they said, as in some regions Civil Supplies offices were refusing to issue the certificates.

The consumers included those with transferable jobs, students staying together, newly married couples and those who have come out of joint families.

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