The Centre on Wednesday said the mandatory gap between delivery of a domestic LPG cylinder (14.2kg) and booking the next has not been extended, remaining 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas.
However, several LPG distributors in Calcutta showed screenshots from invoice systems and booking apps suggesting a 35-day gap for deliveries, raising confusion among customers. Metro could not verify the authenticity of the screenshots.
If accurate, the messages would indicate a backtracking on the part of the Narendra Modi government following public pressure. The distributors maintained that the Union government had reversed a decision it had communicated to them via oil marketing companies.
A PIB release on Wednesday said: “It has come to the notice of the Government that certain news reports and social media posts are claiming revised LPG refill booking timelines — 45 days for PMUY (Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana) connections, 25 days for non-PMUY single bottle connections, and 35 days for non-PMUY double bottle connections. It is clarified that no such changes have been made. The existing refill booking timelines remain unchanged and continue to be: 25 days in urban areas, and 45 days in rural areas, irrespective of connection type.”
The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas posted a similar clarification on X.
“We received revised timeline charts on Tuesday. It clearly mentioned the 35-day gap. Now, the gap has again been reduced to 25 days,” said Bijan Behari Biswas, spokesperson for the Indane LPG Distributors’ Association in Bengal.
A few distributors shared screenshots from LPG booking apps indicating the extended timeline. One message read: “Cannot Proceed! Dear valued customer, your last refill was delivered on 01-MAR-2026. Your next available booking date for a refill is 06-APR-2026.”
Another distributor was aghast at the Centre linking the confusion to social media posts. “The government is blaming distributors. We received the communication on the revised timeline from the oil companies. Our internal invoicing system was changed accordingly. Now, the Centre has gone back on its own decision,” he said.
On Wednesday, distributors faced queries from worried customers. “Many families with a double cylinder connection are concerned about waiting 35 days for a refill. One cylinder lasts about a month. People wondered how to manage if the gap is extended,” said an employee of a distributor in Maniktala.
An official of Indian Oil, the largest LPG supplier in Bengal, denied any formal communication about the extended window being sent to distributors.
Asked about changes in internal systems cited by distributors, the official said: “I cannot comment on individual cases. They have to be seen on a case-by-case basis. There is no change in the booking window, which is still 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas.”