Residents in Chennai and several districts are reporting long delays in the delivery of domestic LPG cylinders, even after booking and waiting for more than 10 days. With home stocks running out, many are turning up directly at gas agencies, leading to long queues.
The disruption has been attributed to shipping constraints affecting fuel transport to India due to the ongoing conflict in West Asian countries. To ensure uninterrupted supply for households, cylinder distribution to hotels and commercial users was halted from March 9, according to the report.
The booking interval for domestic customers was increased to 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas. Later, commercial users were allowed to receive 50% of cylinders. However, consumers say they are unable to book within the announced intervals, and even after booking, deliveries are not reaching homes on time.
Queues have been reported in several Chennai localities including Mylapore, Triplicane, Saidapet, Guindy, Velachery and Medavakkam, with similar scenes in other districts. Affected residents also alleged misuse of domestic cylinders by small eateries and raised complaints that cylinders meant for home delivery are being sold illegally at around Rs 2,000, urging oil companies to act and restore timely doorstep supply.
