KOCHI: Putting an end to the uncertainty, Ernakulam District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla on Tuesday fixed the service charge for delivering gas cylinders to consumers to check the exorbitant rates being levied by gas agencies.
The Collector’s decision came during a district-level meeting convened in his chamber after residents’ associations complained against the gas agencies. As per the Collector’s directive, the agencies have to display the delivery charge on the vehicle on the basis of distance. No charges should be imposed for transporting the cylinder within a distance of 5 km. The rates for delivery would be around Rs 20 for transportation to 5-10 km and Rs 20-30 for delivery to 10 km and above. The delivery charge should be included in the bill, said the Collector.
He also directed the agencies to keep an electronic weighing machine in the delivery vehicle so that complaints regarding weight can be checked. “It is also the responsibility of the consumers to keep the cylinders devoid of dust and mud. If dust enters the cylinder it would result in leakage. The consumer should follow the queue system to get cylinders,” said the Collector.
However, the agencies blamed consumers for the exorbitant delivery charges. “For getting the cylinders in ‘black’, the consumer will give some bribe to the delivery person and this leads to the huge delivery charges,” the agency representatives alleged.