No longer would working professionals have to take the day off, or leave office early, to get a LPG cylinder refill. Instead, for a paltry fee of up to Rs 50, they can now get it delivered at a time of their own choosing on any given day.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today launched the 'Preferred Time LPG Delivery' scheme, through which customers can get cooking gas refills at any time or day of the week by paying an additional Rs 25 or Rs 50 per cylinder.
"The scheme is completely optional and customers who do not opt for it will continue to get their refills as per the current schedule," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Under the scheme, the cylinder delivery would depend on the amount paid. The customer would be charged Rs 50 for deliveries sought before 8 am or between 6 pm and 8 pm on any day of the week in metro cities, and Rs 25 for any time between 8 am and 6 pm.
Customers in other cities and towns would be charged Rs 40 and Rs 20 respectively.
On weekends (Saturday/Sunday), Rs 25 would be charged extra for deliveries sought between 8 am and 6 pm in metro towns, and Rs 20 in other cities.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said the service is currently being launched in Delhi and the adjoining towns of Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Sonepat, besides Bengaluru and Pune.
It will be extended to Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad later this month, and the rest of the country would be covered under the scheme by the end of this year.
LPG distributors failing to deliver the LPG gas refill at a designated time or day will have to pay Rs 20 as penalty to the customer, besides forgoing the premium service fee.
If a customer misses the delivery on the scheduled day of delivery, it will be made during the same time band on the next day.
"There will be no jumping of queue because of this extra payment. The schedule for normal delivery will be maintained and this scheme is to help customers get that delivery on their preferred time and day," he said.
"Customers who wish to avail of this facility must register through a stipulated format available with the distributors or by logging into websites of the respective oil companies," he said.
The websites are www.indane.co.in for customers of Indane Gas of Indian Oil Corp, www.ebharatgas.com for Bharat Gas of Bharat Petroleum Corp, and www.hindustanpetroleum.com for HP Gas of Hindustan Petroleum Corp.
At present, the deliveries are guided by routine scheduling by LPG distributors on a day-to-day basis, with no definite time given.
Deora said the government currently subsidises domestic LPG by over Rs 200 per cylinder, and the new initiative is aimed at improving customer service.
