You can now get cooking gas refills at any time or day of the week, by paying an additional Rs. 25 or Rs. 50 per cylinder.
If the Central Government's Tatkal Scheme is implemented in the city, working professionals and housewives in Hyderabad will no longer have to take the day off, or leave office early, to get an LPG cylinder refill.
Instead, for a small fee of up to Rs. 50, they can now get it delivered at a time of their own choosing on any given day.
Oil Minister Murli Deora on Tuesday launched the Tatkal scheme, or 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.
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.
The scheme 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.
"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 here.
Under the scheme, the cylinder delivery would depend on the amount paid. The customer would be charged Rs. 50 for deliveries sought before 8am or between 6pm and 8pm on any day of the week in metro cities, and Rs. 25 for any time between 8am and 6pm.
Customers in other cities and towns would be charged Rs. 40 and Rs. 20 respectively.
On weekends (Saturday/Sunday), an additional Rs. 25 would be charged for deliveries sought between 8am and 6pm in metros, and Rs. 20 in other towns.
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 foregoing 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," the minister 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 that the government currently subsidises domestic LPG by over Rs. 200 per cylinder, and the new initiative is aimed at improving customer service.
Courtesy: INN News