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Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas20-March, 2012 15:47 IST

  • OMCs have started Unique Toll Free Complaint Number for Grievance Redressal: R.P.N. Singh

  • The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri R.P.N. Singh informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that in order to have a more convenient, easy and effective way to enable the customers to register their complaints for redressal, OMCs have started the service of using Unique Toll Free telephone number 18002333555 for registering the complaints/grievances throughout the country. The call centers are being operated region wise, to facilitate the customers to lodge complaints in local language. Nationwide advertisement in leading print media has been published. The same is also displayed in respective corporate website as well as by all LPG distributors. Customers can also register their complaints through the website of the OMCs.

  • He also said that Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) namely, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC)] Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have prescribed a norm to their LPG distributors to effect the delivery of the refill LPG cylinder ordinarily within two working days of the booking. However, due to factors such as product supply constraints, strikes, road breaches, floods, unplanned shutdown, natural calamities along with huge growth of demand, it has been seen that the distributors are taking up to 15 days to deliver refill LPG cylinder.

  • The Minister further said that in order to check black-marketing/diversion of domestic LPG cylinders, the Government has brought out the “Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000” and formulated “Marketing Discipline Guidelines, 2001” which provide for penal action against LPG distributors indulging in black-marketing/diversion of LPG.

  • MDG, Inter-alia, provide for following action against an errant distributor:-

- Fine of 20, 000 plus the price of LPG diverted at commercial rates for 1st offence.

-  Fine of 50,000 plus the price of LPG diverted at commercial rates for 2nd offence.

-  Termination of the distributorship for 3rd offence.

  • Shri Singh also informed that OMCs have not detected any cases of creating artificial scarcity by any of their distributors. However, OMCs have detected 481 established cases of black-marketing and 49 cases of delay in supplies of LPG refill against their LPG distributorships in the country during the period April, 2011 to January 2012. Action against all the erring distributorships was taken under the provisions of Marketing Discipline Guidelines.

  • He added that state governments are empowered under the LPG (Regulation of Supply & Distribution) Order, 2000 promulgated under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to take action against black-marketing of domestic LPG.

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