Many of the city’s autorickshaw drivers rely on domestic LPG for better mileage and higher profits instead of the commercial LPG or CNG they are legally required to use.

The uncertainty over domestic LPG supply because of restrictions in the wake of the war has forced them back to pumps for the legal fuel.

Several pumps had long lines of autos on Tuesday. Drivers from Sarsuna to Salt Lake said the average waiting time for a refill varied between five and six hours.

“We waited because kata-gas (derived from domestic LPG cylinders) has become irregular and even costlier,” said Arfin Hussain, an autorickshaw driver on the Dharmatala-Lohapool route.

“Waiting to refill is very frustrating. The queue keeps growing longer and longer.”

Several auto drivers like Hussain, whom Metro spoke with, said until Saturday, when the price of the domestic LPG cylinder was hiked by ₹60 across India, they ran their autorickshaws on LPG transferred from domestic cylinders.

Despite being more expensive than the LPG meant for autorickshaws, several drivers said they opted for “kata-gas” for better mileage.

“The price of a kilo of kata-gas would vary between ₹70 and 75, while that of normal auto LPG would be around ₹56-58 a kilo. But a kilo of kata-gas would offer around 34-35km of mileage compared to 17-18km with auto LPG,” said Abdul Iqbal, an auto driver in central Calcutta.

Even when the supply of domestic LPG cylinders was hit following the price hike, several auto drivers continued filling their tanks with kata-gas.

They would call pump operators to book late-night slots for their refills.

“But the price of kata-gas went up from ₹75 to nearly ₹100 a kilo. The supply, too, became erratic. We decided to switch to the legal mode of using auto LPG,” said a driver operating on the Sovabazar-Ultadanga route.

Several drivers said mileage mattered.

An autorickshaw driver has to pay between ₹300 and 400 to the vehicle’s owner every day, depending on the length and popularity of the route, and then calculate his take-home, drivers said. In some cases, the owners pay for the gas. In others, the driver pays.

“Most routes are so congested that even new autos consume gas in high volume. If the mileage is higher, you have some earnings at the end of the day,” Hussain said.

Long queues at auto LPG centres mean a reduced fleet on multiple routes, and commuters will have to bear the brunt.

“The number of autos available is going down every day. This has been happening for the last few days,” said Sayak Das, a Sector V commuter from Ultadanga.