Bhubaneswar, Oct. 30: LPG consumers today heaved a sigh of relief after oil companies extended the deadline for submission of the “Know Your Customers” (KYC) forms till November 15. The earlier deadline for the submission of the forms was tomorrow.

To discourage illegal gas connections, all gas agencies have asked consumers to submit KYC forms stating that they have only one gas connection in their name.

Following the instruction of the oil companies, the gas agencies informed consumers that they had to submit their KYC forms by October 31. Fearing disconnection, consumers have been seen making long queues at their gas agencies for the past week. Chaos reigned at almost all the gas agencies today as consumers thought the last date of submission of the KYC form was tomorrow.

Across the state, people were seen waiting in long queues to submit the forms, as there was confusion about whether all gas consumers had to submit them. They feared that if they didn’t, they would not be entitled to further supply of gas. Cutting across age groups, men and women stood in queues to submit their forms.

Purusottam Das, 74, was fuming as he waited in a queue near Rajdhani Gas in Nayapalli. He had been in line for over two hours. “There is a lot of confusion. Oil companies as well as gas distribution agencies have caused this mess. If I don’t submit the form, they will stop supplying refills. I had to submit the form today at any cost.”

Many agreed with Das. They complained how consumers were being harassed by the gas agencies. “Only two years ago, there was a verification. Now another drama is being enacted to harass innocent consumers. Instead of harassing us, they should take action to curb black marketing of gas cylinders,” said another consumer, Santosh Hota, 48, a resident of Khandagiri.

Gas agency authorities said all consumers did not have to submit the forms. “Those who have multiple connections with same name and same address in a particular household have to submit the KYC form. We are here to help people. All should cooperate. All connections can be regularised after proper verification and documentation,” said president of the Odisha LPG Distributors’ Association S.B. Mohapatra.

Chief LPG manager of Indian Oil (Odisha) B.V. Sekhar Babu said: “The KYC form is required to be submitted by customers who are suspected to have multiple connections, customers who have been transferred and customers seeking reactivation of their suspended or blocked connections only.”

State food and civil supply secretary Madhu Sudan Padhi said: “I have called a meeting of all oil companies to find a solution to ensure that common consumers do not suffer. To avoid chaos, we are planning to introduce an online system. KYC will be implemented to weed out illegal connections.”