It was fine Saturday Morning and i was enjoying my cup of tea in balcony. Suddenly my wife came and told me that LPG Cylinder needs replacement. I happily replaced as i wanted to enjoy my breakfast which was half cooked.
I have 2 LPG cylinders from Bharat Gas and normally refilling takes 1 month time due to rampant black marketing. I can easily buy Bharat Gas cylinder from open market @ 800 Rs per cylinder i.e. double the price. Since i am paying dual tax (which i explained in my one of past blogs “Income Tax – A Myopic View“) therefore i always make sure to take advantage of Govt’s Subsidy becoz i along with 3 Cr other tax payers are bearing the burden of rest 1.14 Cr population. Therefore instead of buying from open market, i prefer to take advantage of Govt Subsidized LPG cylinder becoz its my money.
As it take atleast 30 days for re-filling and my cylinder last for 40-45 days, i thought of immediately booking the same without wasting time through website of Bharat Gas i.e. www.ebharatgas.com
You must be wondering, i am tech savvy as i am booking online but reason is different. Being a typical Indian, i also prefer booking by personally visiting the agency or last option is to book over phone…Now agency is 10 Kms from my place and some 6-7 phone no’s given by agency are always busy as if they have opened some emergency Police Helpline (Fact is they remove the receiver from base unit so that phone remains busy). Last and least preferred option is online booking (Reason is if u book online then it is difficult to track and follow up in case of non-delivery & secondly don’t expect Govt agency to be efficient in this domain)
Now a “pleasant” surprise was waiting for me, A notification regarding “One Household One LPG Connection” was gracing the Home Page of Website. Within fraction of secs the thought of booking a Cylinder was off my mind and i clicked on notification. The Notification Reads
“The LPG control order, 2000 and its amendment of the Government of India permits one LPG cooking gas connection to a household and restricts possession of more than one connection of LPG by a household under the public distribution system. The ‘household’ is defined as a family consists of husband, wife, unmarried children and dependent parents living together in a dwelling unit having common kitchen.”
You can read complete details from following screen shot or u can check out following URL
http://www.ebharatgas.com/pages/Customer_Care/CC_MultipleConnection.html
In the guidelines there is a provision that those who left with only a single – cylinder connection after surrendering the other connection(s) will have the option of converting the same into a Double Bottle Connection (DBC). What it implies that you can get 2 Cylinder on Single Connection. Sounds fair enough therefore being a Law abiding citizen i decided to surrender my 2nd Connection.
After few days i visited Gas Agency and told them to that i would like to surrender my 2nd connection and would like to convert my 1st connection into Double Bottle Connection (DBC). The agency executive told me that 1st i need to surrender 2nd connection and then after 3-4 days they will convert my 1st connection into DBC. I surrendered my 2nd connection.
After few days i visited agency to convert my connection into DBC and to my utter surprise, the agency executive told me that they don’t have cylinders for DBC. I told that i surrendered one cylinder few days back and he told me that it is being allocated to some one else. I told him that Govt notification mentioned that if some one surrender xtra connection then he/she can opt for DBC. He told me, its right but no where its mentioned that it will be provided compulsorily. He suggested me to go for commercial connection (Blue Cylinder) which is very costly. It reminded me that Getting a Gas Cylinder in India is like snatching a piece of flesh from the jaws of Lion.
Now i am left with 1 cylinder & i read notification again. The last line is good one “We solicit whole-hearted co-operation”. Now i also solicit whole-hearted co-operation from my agency in following 3 areas before anyone surrender 2nd connection under One Household One LPG Connection notification
1. Assurance to convert 1st Connection into DBC in case 2nd connection is surrender. If it is not possible then Point No. 2 and Point No. 3 should be implemented.
2. Promise of Delivery within 1/2 an hour: If pizza can be delivered in 1/2 an hour then why not LPG. No LPG supply means starving the person or family. I am ok with 1 connection provided cylinder is refilled within 1/2 an hour.
3. If point no 2 is implemented i.e. promise of 1/2 an hour delivery then waiting period of 21 days is ok to avoid misuse else waiting period + refilling period should not exceed 30 days becoz If a family has kid or old parents then, a 14.2 KG LPG Cylinder can last only for 40-45 days. If re-filling takes 30 days and waiting period is 21 days then 2nd cylinder can only be delivered after 51 days which is too long. If i have to surrender 2nd connection then i will start booking in advance provided the delivery is time bound so that i can get re-filled cylinder just before existing cylinder exhaust the gas supply.
LPG is one of the most essential Household requirement and its basic necessity. Why it is essential and basic necessity becoz there is no alternative to it except induction or solar cooking (Which are costly & non viable options for many). If the objective of this notification is to control LPG subsidy, which we are trying from quite sometime then i feel, it is not the right way to do so by limiting the supply. We need to stop leakages and remove inefficiencies
1st and foremost step is to stop black marketing so that misuse can be eliminated from the system. Any subsidized product which is in short supply like Kerosene, Diesel, LPG etc are Gold Mine for black marketeers. There is organized mafia operating in this space and needs to handled with iron hand.
Secondly, we need to strengthen the Public distribution system and logistics for efficient and timely delivery of supply, which help in eliminating artificial shortage created in system due to inefficient processes.
Thirdly, Re-issue BPL cards to only needy ones…I know many households earning 1 Lac per month with all amenities but still having BPL cards through some sources or connections. They mainly use these cards to get priority in Housing Schemes of Govt as probability of allotment is high in this category. Allotment under such category changes hand fast and BPL card holders sell the same at hefty profits. BPL card holders will continue to get LPG subsidy though they are not eligible for same. Also an efficient system should be worked so that LPG subsidy can be distributed in effective manner to avoid misuse.
Lastly we have an option to control subsidy is to limit no of subsidized cylinders per household per month but this has many loopholes until we link the distribution to single unique id for all citizens like Aadhar or PAN.
All said and done, i still have an option to move to induction based cooking to avoid all these hassles though i need to spend some heft amount initially. Many people will exercise this option but we should understand that electricity is as precious resource as LPG. Cost of producing & distributing electricity is higher compared to LPG. Both Electricity and LPG are produced from natural resources and we need to utilize both of them optimally so that we should not face shortage of any of natural resources in future.
Copyright © 2011-2012 Nitin Bhatia. All Rights Reserved.
Your comments are right and it should also be implemented by the gas agencies.
I am an HPCL Consumer of LPG. We my father have one connection which is subsidized and my self having non subsidized connection for heating water. HPCL definition of Domestic use is that heating water is not domestic use. we are not utilizing the subsidy or LPG gas which we thing is essential and using for domestic use. But HPCL has blocked both the connection and also ignored the customers requirements. what is the reamed
I am assuming both the connections are in different name. Also it seems the address is same for both the connections. Please confirm these 2 points.
I feel instread of banning the second lpg connection the Govt. should charge market rates for all refills on the second connection. In a large household 1 cylinder or even 2 is not sufficient. If a person is willing to pay the market rate then why restrict his lpg to one connection only. This way Govt. will also benefit.
There is a provision to convert the same to EDRH connection. Ie we can avail the cylinder at around 1200 Rs in Karnataka. No need to return the cylinder. You need to do only a small paper work. This is as per Govt Guide lines …. Its our right…
It will be non-subsidized cylinder @ market rate.
Yes sir I completely agree with u. Now i am using gas for cooking and also have a gas geyser. what should i do with on connection. to save electricity we opted for gas geyser now what next?
You can go for double bottle connection and then buy 1 xtra cylinder from grey market of same LPG company (without connection). You can use 1 cylinder for cooking, 2nd for Gas Geyser and 3rd one as spare for emergency. If your consumption is high then u may go for commercial cylinder connection @ market rate for gas geyser.
GAS companies are giving a provision to keep the second cylinder with us without surrendering. We just need to convert it into EDRH connection. Not may people know that. You may avail this for geesers or other such rare uses. Only thing is that it will be a bit costly but not as costly as the Commercial cylinder. This is as per th Govt Guideline and is 100% legal.
Arun
Gas Geyser Connection are non subsidized and available @ market rate…In my post, i am referring to 2nd connection as Subsidized connection.
Gas Geyser Connection is as costly as Commercial Cylinder..the cost of Gas Geyser Connection is less then Commercial cylinder becoz weight of Gas Geyser Connection is 14.2 Kg whereas weight of commercial cylinder is 19 Kg. The rate per Kg is same for both Gas Geyser Connection & commercial cylinder.
You can even get 19 Kg commercial cylinder as a separate commercial connection though you are using for residential purpose.
If u have to purchase Gas Geyser Connection or Commercial cylinder @ market rate then its better to buy Private connection like Jyothi gas or Elf as they deliver within 3-4 hrs of placing the order.
Dear Abhay,
Gas agencies are normally provided to politically connected or relatives of bureaucrats so a common man like u and me can’t do much in this regard. I suggest if u can personally visit the agency, it might help to solve ur issue else they will take their own sweet time to solve ur problem.
Sir,
Try calling their sales officer. The name of the sales officer and Number will be displayed in the showroom of the dealers. This might not be happening with the cognisence of the company, just give a call , still your problem is not solved then you may go to the consumer court.
Arun
You can also register online complaint on http://www.ebharatgas.com
Two weeks ago, I booked a gas cylinder refill at one of the Bharat Gas Agency, telephonic. After following process on IVR they sound that Refill has been booked successfully & would be delivered in Next 48 hours. But after waiting for 60Hrs the refill was not delivered. When I made a call at customer care they told me that refill has been delivered yesterday. But I got the refill after 2 hrs of making them call. But the cylinder was leaking & due to this my family has to face lots of troubles. I had made complaint to them and they took that refill back but still I am waiting for my ordered refill. I had made call to the Bharat Gas agency at 1800222725 so many times regarding the matter but still there is no result. So I decided to file my complaint at http://www.consumercourt.in/lpg-cylinder/89634-bharat-gas-customer-care-complaint.html. But still they have also not replied me regarding this.
My mother and father has one connection each..so do we have to close one account if we stay in different locations.. cause of job reasons?
If your mother and father are staying at different location then you can retain both connections.
i want to transfer gas connection presently held on my name to my sons name as he is married and now staying seperately. In case permitted what is the procedure.
Transfer to family member is possible. You can submit request to your distributor with following documents
1. KYC of your son
2. your Identity and Address Proof
3. Original Subscription Voucher in your name
4. Declaration from your end
After KYC verification, your distributor will issue new subscription voucher in your son’s name.
I am indane customer & now again they imposed 21 days waiting period. I don’t understand why they making our life more painful. I consume one cylinder in 20-25 days & delivery of same took 12-18 days. So technically gap between two bookings is 32-39 days as they start counting from the day cylinder delivered… It should be my wish that i want to consume 12 subsidized cylinders in 6 months or 12….
You may complain directly to your LPG Service provider i.e. Regional Manager of Indane.
Its not service provider who imposed wait period. its imposed by Indane Itself…
I am referring to complain reg delay of 12-18 days in delivery not on 21 days waiting period.
can 1 family have 2 connections on 2 different addresses………but d aadhar card address is same……only the delivery address is different…….nd if 1 is from hp and the other is from bharat gas…….please give me d answer asap………..
It depends, these 2 connections are in whose name. On 1 Aadhaar card, you cannot have 2 connections.
is it ok…..if d address of both the aadhar cards r same………..thank u……….
My apologies but could not understand your case completely. As a rule, one family can have only 1 gas connection.
my mother and father has one connections each in different location(location are 630 km difference). Indane gas agency says that husband and wife both cannot be given subsidised gas since they have 1 ration card. Is there any such clause
That’s correct. One household can have only one DBC connection
Dear Sir, It is not always the fault of service provider (which in this case is a gas agency).
One would not like to pay the rent for 10 land line connections and distribute its number to his customers if he does’nt intend to use them. The benefits of booking through website or IVR system has been started for the convenience of the customer only but if still the customer wants to go to the gas agency and get the refill booked than nothing can be done. You want the scenario of India to be changed in this field but still do’nt want to change the so called “Indian mentality” to go to the agency and book your refill. What is the guarantee that you’ll be able to track it better if its booked through the agency staff.
Like every other profession gas agency people also have work pressures and very high one’s when govt. introduces schemes like DBTL, One household one connection, KYC for the benefit of the citizens of the country. No one ever wants to do anything till the last date provided and you think gas agency staff has super power that they will be able to feed in all the 30000 cutomer’s adhaar numbers in one day. No bank is trained or pressurised to do adhaar linking for DBTL but no one questions that.
Issuing new connections or DBC’s or refill delivery can only be given by the agency if they are supplied with that much cylinders because agency does’nt manufacture or bottles the cylinders so the number of cylinders with them is limited.
Also before complaining most of the people do not check at their end. many people dont get the leakage checked at the time of delivery just to retain the seal …I mean how stupid can one get for a seal. secondly mother received the cylinder at home and son who is sitting in his office or travelling in a train to some other place is complaining on the phone or on the web site that they hav’nt received the refill yet. So what to do about such complainants?
The citizen should’nt always play the “Victimized Aam Aadmi” and say such things for mere participating in a discussion.
I agree with you.
Garima must be a gas agency owner…….. Aapko kabhi 40 degree garmi me cylinder load Karna parega apne floor take wo bhi black me kharid kar tab samajh ayega…….India me paisa dekar bhi chutia ban jaate hai janta baaki consumer ka koi aukat hi Nahi hai……..nitin bhatia g apko sorry hone ki koi jarurat Nahi hai