No takers for LPG preferred time delivery scheme

Of nearly 10 lakh LPG consumers in the City only 300 people have registered under the scheme.

“It is a brilliant scheme drawn out especially for the working class. However, the registration is very poor in Bangalore. We are trying to find out the reason for the poor response,” said Indian Oil Corporation Deputy General Manager (LPG) S Chandran.

Service charge

Under the scheme, LPG refill cylinders will be supplied at doorstep at the time and date preferred by the consumer. A nominal fee ranging between Rs 25 and Rs 50 will be charged for the service depending on the time of the delivery. Consumers will have to pay Rs 50 if the cylinder is delivered before 8 am or between 6 pm and 8 pm on weekdays and on Sundays. Otherwise, Rs 25 will be charged.

In order to avail the scheme, consumers will have to register with the local gas agency by filling a form. The scheme has been made available to consumers of all three oil companies i.e Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HP) and Bharat Petroleum (BP).

Besides, the scheme stipulates that the agency pay Rs 20 AS penalty to the consumer in case the refill is not delivered on time. Moreover, if the consumer is absent on two occasions, the booking will be cancelled and the preferred facility will be withdrawn for six months.

Failure of the scheme

“The agencies are not keen on implementing the scheme, as they fear paying huge amount as penalty, if a lot of people subscribe to the scheme. Also, the agencies will have to shell out more for employing delivery boys to deliver the refill at the preferred time,” sources explained.

At present, the delivery boys are collecting Rs 20 to Rs 30, as tips from the consumers for delivering cylinders. If the scheme is implemented, it will be an end of tips collection. Owing to all these reasons the agencies are not publicising the scheme. Hence, a larger section of the consumers are unaware of the various facilities provided under the scheme.

Outsourced

Officers further said that the money collected as tips is so huge that many gas agencies have outsourced the LPG delivery system allowing the delivery boys to collect a fixed amount of money from consumers.

“The IOC is making all efforts to popularise the scheme. More aggressive publicity campaign will be taken up in the coming days,” added Chandran.

Disconnect

* Only about 300 people have registered for preferred time delivery of LPG in B’lore
*  Distributors not keen on implementing the scheme as they do not benefit
*  Distributors are not publicising the scheme
* The scheme is meant for working families in Bangalore