CHENNAI: CHENNAI: The shortage of commercial LPG cylinders across the state has triggered panic booking of domestic cylinders, disrupting the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) booking system of Indane Gas, the major supplier, in Chennai and a few other parts of the state.
Some consumers said that when they dialled the IVR number to request a new LPG cylinder, the system did not prompt the next option required to complete the booking. They were also unable to place bookings through WhatsApp.
Some families in Tirupattur said their cooking gas cylinders had run empty more than two weeks ago, but they were yet to receive a replacement.
R Rajathilagam of Madipakkam said, “The last cylinder I received was 10 days ago. When I tried to book another cylinder, I did not receive any message confirming the booking. The IVR kept repeating its message.”
Private dealers of BPCL in the Vandimedu area of Villupuram told TNIE that there was no unusual rush for cylinders among domestic consumers and the online booking system was functioning normally.
However, at an Indane distribution centre on KK Road in Villupuram, which primarily serves residential areas, people were seen crowding the premises with empty cylinders seeking replacements.
“People were anxious and crowded the office with their empty cylinders to get new ones. We distributed cylinders to all of them and have enough stock for now,” said an employee.
An official spokesperson of IOCL admitted that the IVR disruption was caused by panic bookings.
“The number of bookings increased eight to ten times. Many consumers who had already received a new cylinder were placing fresh requests again, which led to the system overload,” the spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson added that consumers who place booking requests at the regular interval of 25 days after receiving a cylinder are able to complete their requests without issues.
Indane holds a market share of about 60 to 65 per cent of subsidised domestic 14.2-kg cylinders in Tamil Nadu, while BPCL and HPCL together cater to around 35 to 40 per cent of the market.
Meanwhile, sources in the LPG distributor network attributed the surge in domestic bookings to the black market sale of cylinders for commercial use.
A distributor from North Chennai told TNIE that hotels and restaurants are offering between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 per cylinder, compared to the actual price of around Rs 890.
Catering companies that have taken orders for weddings and other functions are also under pressure as such events cannot be postponed.
“Due to the shortage, a hotel may close temporarily, but weddings and other functions cannot be postponed. Hence, in the black market, catering companies are ready to offer up to Rs 4,000 for a 14.2-kg cylinder.
“In some places, people are also filling auto LPG into domestic cylinders and selling them to restaurants for around Rs 3,000 per cylinder,” the source said, adding that this was reported in Madhavaram and a few other parts of the city.
(With inputs from Nimisha Pradeep @ Vellore and Krithika Srinivasan @ Villupuram)