Karnataka - Bangalore   

Service provider will be penalised, says IOC

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), distributors of Indane LPG, said the company would penalise the service provider of LPG emergency service cell for South Zone.

Responding to a report "LPG Emergency Service Line cut for non-payment of bill" that appeared in The Hindu on Friday, an IOC official said that besides levying the contractual penalty, the quarterly payment to the service provider was being withheld.

When this reporter tried the toll-free emergency number 1800-425-1155 again, it rang for a few minutes before a recorded message said: "Sorry, there is no response from this number."

The official and the service provider continued to maintain that BSNL was at fault. They argued that the service provider did not get telephone bills and as such he did not make the payment.

As the oil companies do not have the manpower to handle emergency calls, they select one distributor for each zone by tender for one year. The contract is extendable by another 18 months.

"As the job is demanding, we get minimum participation from the distributors and sometimes we have to coax them to undertake the job," the official said. However, the service provider is paid handsomely.

The city is divided into five zones for attending to LPG emergency calls. While the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPC) looks after three zones, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) caters to the two. The oil companies bear the cost of this service.

Besides calling, Indane customers may also email indanecareblr@indianoil.co.in. Every complaint is registered, a docket number is given and Indane would keep the customer informed about the action taken.

Emergency service cells attend to calls during non-office hours and holidays. Customers had to contact their respective distributor in cases of emergency during office hours, said the official.

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