The LPG dealers have called off their strike scheduled to be launched on Tuesday following an appointment of a high powered committee to review the Marketing Discipline Guidelines-2014. The representatives of All India LPG Distributors Federation (AILDF) and Federation of LPG Distributors of India (FLDI) would also be included in the committee to review the MDG.
The LPG dealers threatened to down their shutters for indefinite period, as part of nationwide agitation, to press for relaxed marketing discipline guidelines. The dealers complain that they were being held responsible for the fallout of unilateral, faulty and wrong policies of the government and oil companies.
‘Systemic fault’It was unfortunate that the LPG dealers were held responsible and accountable for all the lapses in the system. It was duty of the oil companies to provide appropriate operating system, they said.
The agencies have been asking to provide pilfer proof seal for adequate safety and to avoid pilferage. The multiple pricing was also leading to diversion of LPG cylinders and pilferage.
The gas agencies were at receiving end due to linking of subsidised cylinders with the Aadhaar and bank linkage. The customers find fault with the agencies even if the bank linkage was not done properly or subsidy amount was not deposited into their accounts. There was no mechanism to monitor the release of subsidy amount etc., they said.
Linking of Aadhaar cards with LPG supply is another problem faced by the dealers in the district, he pointed out. Describing certain provisions of the MDG 2014 as “unreasonable and harsh” and claiming that the guidelines could be used as a tool against them, they said, heavy financial penalties and termination of distributorship clauses were part of it.
There are 22 gas dealers. Each dealer, on an average, delivers 200 refills every day. Close to 4,500 refills reach the consumers every day in the city. So, even if the strike was observed for couple of days, the backlogs would pile up. An imminent possibility is a rise in the backlog with the distributors resulting in more wait for consumers to get refills.
The dealers agree that disruption of delivery for even one day would create a huge backlog that could create a domino effect by way of delayed delivery for weeks.
