CHENNAI: People coming to Chennai on transferable jobs or after retirement from other parts of the country are finding getting a new cooking gas connection without a ration card a Herculean task.
For those managing to obtain a connection, the next big challenge is to get refill supplies without disruption while waiting for new ration cards. The going for them, however, does not seem to be smooth with the national oil companies, led by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), insisting on their furnishing the ration cards or else run the risk of not getting the refills.
Many customers complain that it has been months since they applied for new ration cards with the Civil Supplies Department and are yet to hear from it. Senior officials in the oil industry admit that it is a problem for new customers, but there is little that the companies can do in the face of the department’s stipulation that consumers should get an endorsement for the number of cylinders they have on their ration card.
The distributors also alleged that the other national oil marketing companies were not insisting on their customers following the norm. Meanwhile, the IOC has started asking households in possession of more than one connection to keep one and surrender the rest.
In the event of their having two connections, each of single cylinder, it is advising them to convert them into one double bottle connection (two cylinders). For those refusing to comply, refill supplies were being restricted to one connection, according to an official.
Printer friendly
page Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
