The hassles of getting a domestic LPG cylinder may become a thing of the past, with the government keen on checking misuse and bringing about transparency in the domestic cooking gas supply chain.
In the first step forward, the oil ministry and the three state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) Friday launched a web portal that will host data of nearly 14 crore LPG consumers in the country.
A single click on websites, www.petroleum.nic.in., www.indane.co.in or www.ebharatgas.com will now give the consumers information like their LPG booking status, their own pattern of LPG usage, the request for surrender of their connection, highest consumption consumers and the subsidy availed.
The information on the portal can also be sorted by the consumer number, consumer name and by distributors’ name, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said announcing the launch of the portal here.
The step will also check the practice of diversion of domestic cooking gas for commercial usage.
There is a difference of Rs 396 per cylinder between the price of domestic LPG cylinder and those available for commercial use. This often leads to subsidised fuel getting diverted to unintended users.
“This initiative is expected to emerge as a powerful tool for social audit for all domestic LPG supplies,” Reddy said.
He said the portal is also a unique resource for civil society to access LPG distribution information, report discrepancies and register their feedback on the anomalies in supply, if any.
To enable the OMCs to improve their services, the portal also gives opportunity to consumers to rate the services of their LPG distributor, thus helping the oil companies to focus on areas of improvement and enhance consumer satisfaction.
VIP consumers
Last but not the least, through the use of this portal, consumers can also get information about the usage pattern of the VIPs in the country.
Incidentally, the portal showed the VVIPs consumed too much subsidised cooking gas in the country. Hours after the launch of the portal, the data displayed that Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s official residence consumed over 170 subsidised LPG cylinders in the year till May 31, while Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur used more than 160 cylinders.
The portal also showed industrialist Naveen Jindal’s residence in the national capital received 369 refills in a year, or more than one cylinder a day through two LPG connections. Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy himself got 26 refills or more than two per month.
As per norms, general public is not allowed to book a refill within 21 days of delivery of a cylinder.