IOC directs dealers to computerize LPG sales records
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, May 22, 2013:
In a bid to check black marketing of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is made available to the consumers at subsidized rate, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has directed all its 47 distributors in the State to computerize all records related to LPG sales.
The computerized system will enable the IOC officials to verify the records online and check the distributors from black-marketing the LPG.
A high ranking official of IOC told Hueiyen Lanpao that there are 47 LPG distributors in the State with a total number of 3.15 lakh consumers, out of which about 40000 consumers have been scratched for possession of double LPG connection and forged documents.
Many more consumers have also applied for the change of consumer's name and the IOC is in the process of issuing new consumer's cards, the official added.
The official further stated that the IOC is trying to streamline the distribution of LPG by sorting out the commercial consumers from among the domestic consumers.
Many commercial consumers who are running hotels and restaurants are taking the domestic connection illegally.
The IOC would give commercial connection after getting the list of hotels and restaurants from Imphal Municipal Council.
Those commercial consumers found using the domestic connection would be fined and punished, the official noted.
Further, the Central Government has approved addition of 10 more distributors for far-flung areas of the State.
The IOC has started the tender process and the distributors will be made to function as soon as the tender process is over.
The official also mentioned that the Gas Bottling Plant at Sekmai was initially set up for a capacity of 600 metric tonnes and it is now short of supplying the required quantity due to increasing number of consumers and prevailing law and order situation of the State.
So, the IOC has taken up necessary steps for setting up another bottling plant with a capacity of 1800 metric tonnes.
It may be mentioned that the Central government has decided to supply nine LPG-filled cylinders to each consumer in a year at a subsidized rate of Rs.424 per cylinder and Rs.439 per cylinder in case of home-delivery service, while a non-subsidized LPG-filled cylinder would cost Rs.1014 and consumers can buy the non-subsidized LPG from the distributors whenever the consumption exceeds the allocated number of cylinders.