Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Gas refill backlog leaves consumers in the cold

N. Ravi Kumar

Firms adopt 21-day norm, households get refill after 25 days

NOT ENOUGH: LPG cylinders kept ready for transportation in Chennai. — File photo

CHENNAI: A backlog in cooking gas refill supplies ranging from three-four days in Chennai to up to 10 days in some other districts — beyond the mandatory three week gap between two refills — prevail as the monsoon sets in in the State.

Given that the oil companies are implementing the 21-day norm, the households in Chennai are getting the next refill after 25 days, while those in other districts wait for almost a month.

The situation is causing concern to the consumers, as at this time of the year the demand for the domestic fuel peaks, essentially owing to the festive season and the need for heating water for both cooking and bathing.

T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist in the district of Tiruvallur, says households in Avadi, Ambattur and Tiruninravur have been experiencing a delay in getting the refill cylinders for over a month. What is of more concern to them is the practice of some distributors to ignore the date of the refill booking and take into account only the supply date for applying the 21-day norm.

Households having double bottle connections (two cylinders) have little alternative, as they are not entitled to draw kerosene under the public distribution system. He emphasises the need for the oil companies to relax the 21-day norm during the monsoon.

Sources among the distributors of the national oil companies say the wait beyond 21 days for the customers is around 10 days in the southern and western districts. While some want the oil companies to supply extra loads, others say measures are being initiated to clear the backlog. Some of the reasons they cite for the backlog are the number of holidays in the recent weeks, the riots in the port town of Mangalore from where the bottling plants get the bulk stocks and the increase in refill bookings.

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