LPG ‘shortage’| Long queues outside Ram Darbar LPG agency in Chandigarh, booking glitches keep residents waiting for hours

Long queues, anxious faces and residents clutching empty cylinders have become a common sight outside the LPG agency in Industrial Area Phase II near Ram Darbar over the past few days, as supply delays and new booking rules disrupt routine cylinder refills.

Many residents rue that what isnormally a simple household taskhas turned into a stressful ordeal.

Rajan Mishra, a resident of Maloya, sat quietly on his empty LPG cylinder near the agency gate, repeatedly trying to book a refill on his mobile phone.

“Agency staffers say I will get a cylinder only after receiving the booking OTP,” he said, dialling the LPG booking number again and again.

Like many others in the queue, Mishra said, “I am also unable to connect to the booking system.”
Residents claim the online booking system has been overwhelmed due to panic bookings.

A few metres away, Reena, a resident of Ram Darbar, waited with a token slip in her hand.

She reached the agency with her husband around 7 am,hoping to get a refill cylinder, but as the crowd grew with time, her husband left for work, and she stayed back in the queue.

After waiting for several hours, Reena finally reached the counter only to receive a token for March 16 instead of a cylinder.

She learnt that LPG cylinders could now be booked only after 25 days of the previous delivery.

“I have only one cylinder, and it finished two days ago.

I don’t know what to do now,” she said.

Agency employees say they have been struggling to manage the sudden rush.

Vaibhav, an agency employee, said, “Around 700 people have been visiting the agency every day for the past three days, but due to the limited supply, tokens are issued to only about 150 customers daily.”
“We give token numbers with specific dates so that people can come back and collect the cylinder on that day,” Vaibhav said.

Vaibhav said the biggest concern is families relying on a single LPG cylinder.

“Those customers are in panic, because when their gas finishes, they have no backup.

But we cannot provide cylinders immediately due to short supply,” he said.

According to agency staff, the 25-day capping on booking LPG cylinders has also added to the confusion among consumers.

With a surge in booking attempts, the call server has been crashing frequently, making it difficult for customers to register their requests, they said.

Residents in several parts of the city say they have been facing similar difficulties over the past couple of days as the rush for refills continues.

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