NEW DELHI: In a new move, the government has decided that LPG customers should have a choice in deciding which distributors they want their gas cylinders to be refilled from.
To check out the new mechanism, a pilot project is being launched shortly in Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Coimbatore, Pune and Ranchi, according to the Oil and Petroleum Ministry.
“Consumers will be able to choose their ‘Delivering Distributor’ from the list of distributors catering to their address within their Oil Marketing Company (OMC),” the ministry said in a press release today.
Giving details, it said, while booking a LPG refill through mobile app/customer portal using registered login, the customer would be shown the list of delivering distributors along with their performance rating shall be displayed.
The customer can opt for any of the distributors from the list applicable for his/her area to get an LPG refill delivery.
“The service will not only empower the customers by way of enhanced choice, but also inspire healthy competition amongst the distributors to provide the best in class services to the customers and improve their performance ratings,” it said.
Customers can also book their LPG refills through the UMANG (Unified Mobile App for New Governance) app or the Bharat Bill Pay System apps and platforms. Additionally customers can book their refills and make payments through popular e-commerce Apps viz. Amazon, Paytm etc. also.
The facility of Online Transfer of LPG connection to another distributor serving in the same area has been provided to LPG customers through respective OMCs web-portals as well as their Mobile Apps.
Customers using their registered login can choose a distributor of their OMC from the list of distributors serving in their area and opt for the porting of their LPG connection.
Source distributor has the option to contact the customer and persuade him/her.
If the customer is convinced, he/she can withdraw the portability request within the stipulated time of 3 days. Otherwise, the connection gets transferred to the target distributor automatically.
Therefore, the customer can avail online portability to another distributor of the same company operating in the same market without visiting the distributorship.
The facility is free of cost and there is no fee or transfer charges payable for this facility, it said.
