- HC sets 22-day supply timeframe
By UMANAND JAISWAL
Guwahati, Apr 20 : LPG users can now breathe easy.
Dispur and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have initiated steps to ensure that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders are made available to consumers within 22 days of availing of the last one, following a Gauhati High Court directive issued early this month.
The court has asked both Dispur and IOC to ensure that consumers are not inconvenienced because of non-availability of LPG cylinders to the “extent possible” after setting a minimum booking time of 15 days and a supply time of seven days. T
his means that a consumer can book a fresh cylinder 15 days after receiving the previous one and should receive it within seven days of booking.
In effect, the gap between two cylinders will now be 22 days.
K.K. Dey, one of the four counsels for the petitioners, said the court’s directive meant that a consumer was entitled to a fresh cylinder immediately after 22 days of having received the previous one.
The deputy general manager (LPG) of IOC, A.K. Sarma, told this correspondent today that the corporation would try its best to comply with the court’s directive.
Former Cotton College principal Kamalendu Deb Krori, who had filed the PIL with Surendra Nath Talukdar and Mukteswar Bhattacharjee, said though he was happy with the directive passed by Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice A.C. Upadhyay, he would not sit idle.
“At present, the gap between two cylinders, despite booking, is over 40 days. It will take some time for effective implementation of the court directive which has made supply of LPG cylinders on time mandatory. We will keep a close watch on the situation and, if necessary, approach the court again in case of any violation. I have been fighting for regular supply since 1991. When nothing happened, I moved court last year,” Krori said.
Consumers allege that while cylinders are not delivered on time, these are available in the black market at double the price, particularly during festivals. “The court directive is a godsend,” said Sunita Devi, a homemaker.
A senior official of the food and civil supplies department said since LPG falls under the essential commodity category, it will not be found wanting in cracking the whip against those trying to disrupt its supply or against unauthorised users. At the same time, it wants IOC to take all possible steps to ensure uninterrupted supply.
He said IOC was increasing its bottling and storage capacity and was working overtime to meet the shortfall.
An IOC source said supply of cylinders in Assam had increased to 5,455,054 between April and August in 2010 from 4,927,885 during the corresponding period in 2009.
He cited frequent bandhs, bad roads and floods for disruption in regular supply. A day’s bandh results in a shortfall of 38,000 cylinders.
In its affidavit, IOC has stated there was no deliberate short supply of cylinders to the market.
D. Goswami of Lachit Nagar-based Padmaja Gas Agency, a respondent in the case, said, “I still have to see the court ruling in detail but if supply is normal I don’t see any problem in complying with it.”
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