National oil marketing corporations Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have withdrawn discounts on commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with effect from November 8.
It follows a directive from Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to the companies, in the wake of a few complaints of commercial LPG selling price being lower -- on a per kg basis post discount – than that of domestic cooking gas, Telangana LPG Distributors Association leaders said here on Thursday.
“The decision was taken without prior notice or any formal communication to the distributors or customers,” president K.Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
In the absence of any official communication, the association sought to inform the customers about the new policy on discounts. The LPG distributors body is also in discussions with oil companies to give some time window to reorganise the trade and adjust the pricing policy accordingly in a staggered manner, he said.
Appealing to the customers to cooperate with distributors by paying their dues in time to ensure uninterrupted supplies, Mr. Reddy said given the low profit margin and the cost of the commercial cylinders, which come in different sizes 19 kg onwards, the distributors would also not be in a position to supply on credit.
The association in a release said 8 lakh commercial cylinders of 19-kg capacity are sold every month across Telangana to hotels, restaurants, food courts, cloud kitchens, street vendors, food processing etc.
Mr. Reddy also urged commercial LPG users to register themselves with the distributors, instead of procuring the cylinders from others, to avail themselves of the insurance cover in the event of any accidents.
