The Hindu : Front Page : LPG cylinder misuse rampant

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

LPG cylinder misuse rampant

N. Ravi Kumar

— File Photo: S.S. Kumar

BLATANT violation: A tea shop near Chennai Collectorate using a domestic LPG cylinder.

CHENNAI: The use of heavily subsidised cooking gas by commercial establishments, particularly tea stalls and roadside eateries, in the city could soon have an effect on both distributors and consumers. While distributors are already experiencing restriction in terms of the quantum made available by the oil companies, consumers may have to deal with longer waiting period for refills, say sources in the industry.

Given that the domestic variety is priced around Rs.288 and the 19-kg commercial cylinders at Rs.923, the per kg difference in price of liquefied petroleum gas works out to nearly Rs.29.

One of the reasons for the misuse is the absence of an effective mechanism to counter diversion. Without discounting the role of some of the distributors and those in the delivery network, sources in the industry say many domestic customers also sell cylinders at a premium. An indicator of the ease with which the commercial establishments get the subsidised cylinders is the pace at which tea stalls and eateries get hold of a cylinder after a raid. Many tea stalls and eateries seem to have little fear of the law, going by the manner in which they keep the cylinders in the open.

While denying that such diversion was on the rise, an IOC official said that in June around 700 domestic cylinders were seized from the city. He, however, said the problem could be solved only with the active support of the State Civil Supplies Department.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page