Paperwork and procedures keep lines for LPG refills long

GANGTOK, 05 Dec: The LPG crisis continues in Sikkim compounded by the official persistence that all customers fill out the KYC forms, the running complaints of shortage of gas cylinders, requirement of Aadhaar numbers, multiple connections with customers still refusing to voluntarily surrender their extra connections etc.
While several hundreds of ‘multiple connections’ have been blocked by the Indian Oil Corporation in Sikkim, officials inform that only 78 ‘extra’ gas connections have been officially surrendered by consumers in the entire state till date since the process began in October.
On the seemingly perpetual problem of cylinder shortage, even as IOC officials deny any shortage, dealers here acknowledge that the’ apparent’ shortage is due to the new and rather time-consuming process recently adopted by the agency/ dealers on consumer verification. The process of acquiring a refill is taking longer, they point out, and this gives the impression of shortage.
Dealers, particularly STCS, have found a convenient way of circumventing the public outcry of gas shortage especially regarding those consumers whose connections have not yet been transferred to their area LPG dealer. People have been constantly aggrieved over the fact that their local dealers have not been supplying cylinders on time and this is due to what the IOC calls “…the tag bit long process of verification”.
For the interim, consumers are issued a coupon and sent down to Lumsey here where the IOC cylinder laden truck unloads. Consumers can pick up their refills here on producing the coupons. The consumers are made to pick their refills thereby being made to bear extra costs of transportation as well apart from this being a time consuming and circuitous process. When NOW! visited the spot today there were people from various places ranging from Ray to Tadong to Arithang.
When contacted, IOC officials denied knowledge of consumers also being asked to get their refills directly from Lumsey, Tadong.
While officials accept that consumers are facing harassment and that there are complaints, the so called new system, they claim, is the reason for the slow supply or refills of gas cylinders. Under this new regime, every refill is verified not only for what it is but also whether it is from the subsidized or non subsidized category and the number of such refills already taken and the number of subsidized refills left.
Then again this is crosschecked from any multiple connections that the consumer may or may not have. Only then is the next refill allotted. The people of Gangtok can make it down to Lumsey, Tadong but for areas like North Sikkim the people have no other option but to wait for the truck with the refills and as the Indane portal displays, STCS for example, which is the sole distributor for Jorethang circle had its last refill delivery date on 31 October. STCS which has the largest number of consumers in Gangtok as well had its last refill delivery date here on 05 November.
So the public has to take time out not just to fill out and submit their respective KYC forms but to get their LPG refills as well from way outside the Gangtok bazaar area as well as bear the extra cost. While this is getting to be a nightmare for the consumers, IOC officials say that this should not continue for long and matters should get back to normal once the new process has been absorbed and all KYC forms submitted.
As officials inform, KYC forms were actually introduced by the IOC in the month of July. The rush began only in October when the central government announced a cap on the number of subsidized cylinders, announced various categories of prices of cylinders, Aadhar numbers as basis of obtaining connections and the ban on multiple connections.