New Delhi, Sept. 20: A move is on to distribute LPG cylinders in urban areas outside normal working hours — possibly between 6am and 10am and 5pm and 10pm — which will give a respite to office-going couples who are often at a loss on how to receive them.

According to minister of state for petroleum Jitin Prasada, oil companies are planning this as a premium service.

Oil ministry officials said companies would be charging a premium of about Rs 50 per cylinder, and consumers will specify the delivery time of their choice.

There are over 10 crore LPG consumers, with about 40 per cent of them in the metros, according to industry estimates.

The premium service will be introduced in a phased manner in the metros, beginning Delhi. The LPG brands sold by the three state-owned firms — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) — are Indane, Bharat Gas and HP Gas, respectively.

A 14.2kg cylinder of Indane, which has a market share of over 65 per cent, is priced at Rs 279.70 in Delhi, Rs 327.25 in Calcutta, Rs 312.05 in Mumbai and Rs 314.55 in Chennai.

Officials said the scheme was being given the finishing touches and was expected to be operational next month.

“This is another effort to market the product in an innovative manner to meet the changing profile of the consumers,” Prasada said.

Booking via SMS

Oil companies had also recently launched an SMS facility to book cylinders. Those using the service will be given the delivery details and an acknowledgement of the booking via SMS. The facility will be initially available in Delhi and later expanded to other towns having a population of over 5 lakh.

Indane users will have to register by typing their distributor and consumer IDs to 54625, a process that allows the company to register the user’s mobile phone number as well.

Thereafter, users are required to type LPG and send it to the same number for refills. For Bharat Gas users, the process is the same, with the number being 52725. In HP gas, the process is through phone — the number is 9990923456 — where the subscriber is guided by an automated voice to register and book refills.