There has been a sudden spurt in cases pertaining to illegal diversion of LPG domestic cylinders for commercial purposes across the state during the last two weeks.. Officials attribute this to steep rise in commercial cylinder (19.2 kg) prices from Rs 1,300 six months ago to Rs 1,900 now. A fortnight ago, the price was hiked by Rs 200. Most of the hotels, eateries and roadside establishments are resorting to illegal use of LPG cylinders that are available for Rs 410 by colluding with gas agencies and delivery boys, who are exploiting the situation and selling the cylinders for Rs 1,000 in black.
Besides, the steep hike in auto LPG prices effected by the oil marketing companies a fortnight ago (from Rs 47 to Rs 54 a litre), has resulted in large scale diversion of domestic LPG cylinders for unauthorised use in cars and autorickshaws. In the recent raids conducted by the officials of civil supplies department in few areas like Uppal, Dilsukhnagar, Musheerabad, Himayathnagar, Punjagutta and Abids, it was detected that about 5,000 domestic cylinders were illegally diverted to other commercial purposes. The number was huge given that the officials have been detecting only a few hundreds of such cylinders earlier. Officials have also found that a large number of unauthorised LPG filling stations have come up across the city, who are transferring gas from LPG cylinders to cars, autorickshaws and small cylinders of 1 to 2 kg.
“We have directed the officials of civil supplies department to step up raids to check the illegal diversion of cylinders under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act,” said D. Sridhar Babu, the minister for civil supplies. The complaints being registered by LPG consumers against the gas agencies of delaying the delivery of cylinders by more than three weeks are also on the rise. The complaints primarily relate to delivery boys not supplying the cylinders despite receiving SMS that the cylinder had been delivered. The consumers complain that the delivery boys were diverting the cylinders.