DC orders gas cylinders to be delivered to homes within 10 days of booking

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Citizens booking domestic gas cylinders online will receive their cylinders approximately ten days later. District Collector Deelip Swami has instructed that cylinders should be delivered directly to homes instead of being collected from gas agencies. The orders were issued during a meeting on Monday with gas agency owners, company representatives, and the district supply section.

Complaints about gas supply have been rising, prompting the collectorate office to convene the meeting. Given the difficulties faced by citizens in obtaining cylinders, Swami reviewed the situation with supply agencies.

Following increased bookings due to recent tensions in the country, company representatives claimed that supply meets the usual demand for March and April. Bookings are only available online, though many citizens still crowd gas agencies once their cylinders run out. The collector instructed companies to increase the daily quota after reviewing the daily gap between bookings and deliveries. District Supply Officer (DSO) Pravin Phulari, gas company representatives Nitin Bajaj and Shubham Chauhan, Rekha Kedare, Madhuri Kadam, Savita Kakade, and other district gas distributors were present in the meeting.

E-KYC mandatory for booking

Bookings cannot be made without completing e-KYC, which can be done through the apps of Indian Oil One, Hello BPCL, or HP-Pay. Current bookings stand at 60,000 for BPCL, 40,000 for Indian Oil, and 45,000 for HPCL. Single-day delivery of all cylinders is not possible; some customers have pending cylinders even after new bookings.

Crowding at agencies due to three reasons

All companies are conducting e-KYC drives.

Citizens are visiting agencies for new block connections.

Citizens come immediately after booking to demand cylinders.

Strict legal action warned

District Collector Deelip Swami said, “Customers must not visit agencies to collect cylinders themselves. Cylinders must be delivered to homes after booking. New connections are currently suspended, and pending e-KYC must be completed online. Delivery must be completed within 24 hours, or legal action will follow.”

Quota requests and supply capacity

Rising demand has led distributors to request higher quotas from companies, though no decision has been made yet. The three companies currently have the capacity to supply 20,130 cylinders daily. Previously, 15 cylinders were provided per year per household, then 12, and now 7–8, said DSO Pravin Phulari.

Police escort for deliveries in certain areas

According to a gas agency operator, “In some locations, delivery vehicles will require police escort. The collector has instructed the police to provide patrolling support to ensure safe delivery of cylinders to customers.”