People queue up to fill up LPG cylinders in the city. File picture

May 3: The Consumers Legal Protection Forum — a consumer rights NGO — on Thursday sought the Kamrup (metro) district administration’s intervention to check the “artificial” scarcity of LPG cylinders in the city.

The NGO submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioner Ashutosh Agnihotri, calling for immediate steps to make sure that consumers get gas cylinders within a stipulated time — according to the provisions of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000.

Chief co-ordinator of the NGO, Ajoy Hazarika said although the state government and the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) promised to provide LPG refills within seven days of booking before Gauhati High Court last year, consumers were not getting deliveries even after two-three months.

“People are not getting gas because of black marketing of the cylinders by gas agencies. While cylinders are not delivered on time, these are available in the black market in double/triple the price,” Hazarika said.

IOCL officials said the crisis was because of “insufficient availability” of bulk LPG in the country and the problem being faced by consumers and distributors was not Guwahati-specific, but an all-India phenomenon.

The shortfall in Guwahati is almost 4,000 cylinders per day against a requirement of 10,000 cylinders.

However, the NGO said they had received complaints about diversion and sale of LPG cylinders in the black market and use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes.

“Black marketing is being carried out in cooperation with a section of the corrupt employees of the food and civil supplies department,” Hazarika said.

The state unit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (communist) also staged a protest in front of the DC’s office and submitted a similar memorandum .