LPG consumers in Hyderabad and elsewhere could face difficulty booking and receiving LPG cylinders in the coming days.
The A.P. Gas Dealers’ Association will join the protest call given by All India LPG Distributors’ Federation (AILDF) and Federation of LPG Distributors of India (FLDI) demanding change in marketing discipline guidelines and method of allotting of fresh gas dealerships.
P. Venkateswara Rao, president, A.P. Gas Dealers’ Association, on Monday said cylinders would not be supplied from February 25. “The new marketing guidelines of the Petroleum Ministry are harsh. The government already has Esma and the Gas Control Act to impose penalties and take disciplinary action against distributors. Where is the need to create fresh guidelines and penalise distributors at three different levels?” he asked.
The new marketing discipline guidelines will categorise mistakes made by dealers into three categories: minor, major and critical. If dealers make three major mistakes, the dealership licence will be forfeited, while two mistakes will result in loss of licence. There is also a proposal to impose Rs. 2 lakh fine on distributors for indiscipline. Distributors said the Petroleum Ministry was also issuing advertisements for new dealerships without actually taking up a study of the demand and supply at the local level.
