Gas woes for public increasing
EMN
Dimapur, February 2
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nother agency dealing with Liquefied Petroleum Gas this times in Kohima, has come under the censure and scrutiny of the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organization (NVCO) for breach of consumers’ rights and charging way over the officially stipulated price for a cylinder.
The NVCO issued a press release on Monday after the Naga Hospital Colony Panchayat of Kohima complained against the agency, Belho Gas Agency.
On February 2, the leaders of Naga Hospital Colony Panchayat approached the NVCO and complained about the grievances faced by members of the colony in the hands of Belho Gas Agency. It was disclosed that on January 29, the agency had brought LPG-filled cylinders but refused to give to consumers at the present prevailing rate of Rs.470 per cylinder especially to those who have not registered in the PAHAL scheme. The agency is said to have claimed that it was compulsory for every consumer “whether enrolled in ‘PAHAL’ or not have to pay Rs.850 per cylinder i.e inclusive of Rs.50/- as carrying charge.”
The officials of the Panchayat had requested the agent to charge Rs.470 per cylinder (inclusive of carrying charge) for consumers who have not register in PAHAL scheme as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
The colony officials also informed that other gas agencies such as Seyie and Marcofed were doing the same accordingly with the government’s guidelines such as charging Rs.470 per cylinder, domestic LPG domestic to consumers who had registered in PAHAL (DBTL) till March 31, 2015.
“The colony officials refused to pay Rs.850 (carrying charge inclusive) especially for those who have not been register in PAHAL and even the driver of Belho Gas Agency asked the colony officials to go and personally meet the proprietor in his office, accordingly the official went to the proprietor’s office on the same day but the reply was he is out of station and they were asked to come on 31st January. The colony officials went to the proprietor’s office as scheduled but they were not given the chance to meet him on the pretext of having meeting,” the NVCO stated.
The colony leaders asserted that Belho Gas Agency must honor the rights of consumers by way of following the government’s guidelines that the consumers without PAHAL enrollment must be allowed to pay Rs.470 per LPG-filled cylinder till March 31, 2015. “The colony official complained about the excessive carrying charges for a short distance i.e., Rs.50 to Rs.80 per cylinder within Naga Hospital colony and earlier charged Rs.490 per cylinder compared to Rs.470 of other gas agencies,” the NVCO stated. The unprofessional attitude of staffers of Belho Gas Agency and their being impolite to customers was also noted.
The NVCO has requested consumers to register their LPG connection with PAHAL (DBTL) and avail subsidized amount directly through bank accounts. One of the guidelines of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas especially for consumers who have not yet registered or enrolled in the scheme, is that they will get subsidized LPG cylinder only till March 31, 2015’.
The NVCO requests Belho Gas Agency to consider the guidelines of the government by honoring the rights of consumers.
The NVCO also complained against the rampant black-marketing in the state. The black market is leading to shortage of LPG supply especially domestic connections, the organization stated and has appealed to state government to put more efforts into solving the shortage of LPG supply.
The NVCO has also requested the district administrations to raid public accommodations such as hotels, restaurants, and guest houses, and seize LPG domestic connections.
Another matter the NVCO said was ‘maximum’ in the complaints section was that consumers have to wait for hours for an LPG connection only to be told that there was no more supply. “…but it is easily available in black-market at the rate of ranging Rs.1000/- to Rs.1300/- per LPG,” the NVCO reminded the authorities.
