With the prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders being revised upwards from Monday, consumers are shocked and are questioning the rationale behind the rise.
This is the second hike this month and the total cost of a non-subsidised LPG cylinder has gone up by ₹100. A non-subsidised 14.2 kg cylinder now costs ₹710 in the city. Usually, prices are revised from the first of every month.
K. Seshadri, a customer from Thirumudivakkam, said it was not fair that the government had hiked the price twice this month. “Consumers are already burdened by the price increase in other items such as petrol, cooking oil and other provisions,” he said.
Unfair trade practices
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said it was an unfair trade practice that the company was taking additional cash from customers during delivery.
“Some agencies are cancelling bookings and are asking consumers to make fresh bookings. And others are collecting additional cash from customers, who have paid the previous bill amount online. Both are very unfair practices when consumers are buying cylinders at non-subsidised rates,” he said.
An oil industry source said that for the past six months, LPG prices had been retained with very minimal changes despite very high international prices. “The government did not want to burden consumers during the lockdown.” he said.
Before the launch of direct transfer of subsidy amount to consumer accounts a few years ago, LPG prices were not revised every month. They were kept steady and almost never changed, recalled a retired official.