The saga of LPG woes continues

BANGALORE: Irregular supply continues to hound the domestic LPG consumers as they struggle to get a refill and rectify the mistakes done by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies and by distributing agencies. The department plans to set August 15 as the deadline for submission of documents; RR (Revenue Registration) and LPG connection.Ridhima Agarwal, a resident of Bannerghatta road, recalls her last few days' harrowing experience. "The gas got over and I called for a refill. The agency told me my connection has been suspended. I was shocked for my husband had submitted all the documents. On Monday and Tuesday, she logged on to the website and when she clicked on the scroller to verify her documents, the website read 'server busy'. When she finally entered the site, she clicked on the verification of LPG connection tab to be informed "requested URL could not be retrieved. Please try later."Service at a costAnother resident complained to the Grahak Shakthi, a nonprofit consumer organisation, stating that the agency demanded a bribe to enter the details correctly.While another consumer reported that a government official in the Food and Civil Supplies department did not listen to her problem and told her to upload the documents online."It was a shock when the agency delivery boy demanded a bribe to supply a cylinder. While I did not entertain the request, the whole exercise is becoming another opportunity for the delivery agencies to make hay," says a consumer.Somashekar V K, managing trustee of Grahak Shakthi, said that the Department could have used its vigilance committees attached to all fair price shops to undertake the weeding of bogus ration cards. If consumers are willing to come forward, the organisation plans to move the court if consumers are harassed unnecessarily by not receiving refills on time.