In spite of the disciplinary measures put in place by oil marketing companies (OMCs), getting a cooking gas refill remains an uphill task for many consumers. Customers across Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu have complained that they are unable to book cylinders, that delivery is delayed, and that gas agencies are cancelling bookings due to pending e-KYC verification or forcing customers to collect refills themselves.

Sai Leela, a resident of Virugambakkam, said booking a cylinder was a hassle and that she succeeded only after several tries. “We have had to wait for over 20 days for the cylinder after booking it,” she said.

D. Sandeep of Teynampet said that since March, the agency had been asking them to call and inform them after booking. “We book through the website since we make online payments. It took us a couple of attempts to place the order. It has been a week since we booked and we do not know when the cylinder will arrive. We are managing with an induction stove,” he said.

Velachery resident Geetha Ganesh said the gap between booking and delivery was too long. She had booked on April 12, but received the refill only on May 5. “I have only one cylinder because when we got the connection, we were travelling quite a bit. Now, we manage with cylinders borrowed from family,” she said.

Moti Chandrika, a resident of Perungudi, said her father was told by the agency that he could not make a booking until he completed the e-KYC process. “He is a senior citizen and cannot travel. The agency did not tell him how to submit the KYC documents. Now, there is a message saying because we pay income tax, we won’t get the subsidy. It is all very confusing,” she said.

A distributor in the city said the oil companies were supplying less than half of their daily requirement of cylinders. “It takes almost an entire day for the trucks to return from the gas bottling plant. Supplies have been hit after the election results came. We are told to maintain a minimum backlog of five days,” said the distributor.

A distributor outside the city said he had been manually cancelling 400 to 500 bookings daily for the past few days due to a supply shortage and non-compliance with the e-KYC process.

Consumer activist T. Sadagopan alleged that OMCs were ignoring customers who had not submitted Aadhaar data. “When an OTP is insisted upon during delivery and booking is done using registered mobile numbers, how many cylinders can really be diverted? The subsidy amount of ₹24.50 too is negligible,” he pointed out.