New Delhi: If you are not satisfied with your LPG gas distributor and looking for a change, soon you may not need to purchase a new LPG gas connection. With the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas' LPG Cylinder Booking Portability scheme, customers are going to enjoy more freedom over selecting the distributor of their choice. "Consumers will be able to choose their "Delivering Distributor" from the list of distributors catering to their address within their Oil Marketing Company (OMC)" the Ministry said in an official statement issued Thursday.
In the pilot phase, which will be launched shortly, this unique facility will be available in Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Pune, and Ranchi.
While booking an LPG refill through a mobile app/customer portal using registered login, the customer would be shown the list of delivering distributors along with their performance rating shall be displayed. The customer can opt for any of the distributors from the list applicable for his/her area to get an LPG refill delivery. The service will not only empower the customers by way of enhanced choice but also inspire healthy competition amongst the distributors to provide the best in class services to the customers and improve their performance ratings.
Furthering the Digital India mission, the Oil Marketing Companies under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are constantly upgrading their facilities to provide a seamless digital experience to the customers. The need for contactless transactions has been amplified in view of the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. Leveraging technology, OMCs have adopted the following digital initiatives to help customers to book and pay for their LPG refills through digital platforms. Apart from the digital modes, customers can also book their LPG refills through the UMANG (Unified Mobile App for New Governance) app or the Bharat Bill Pay System apps and platforms. Additionally, customers can book their refills and make payments through popular e-commerce Apps viz. Amazon, Paytm etc. also.
The facility of Online Transfer of LPG connection to another distributor serving in the same area has been provided to LPG customers through respective OMCs web-portals as well as their Mobile Apps.
Customers using their registered login can choose a distributor of their OMC from the list of distributors serving in their area and opt for the porting of their LPG connection. Source distributor has the option to contact the customer and persuade him/her. If the customer is convinced, he/she can withdraw the portability request within the stipulated time of 3 days. Otherwise, the connection gets transferred to the target distributor automatically.
Therefore, the customer can avail online portability to another distributor of the same company operating in the same market without visiting the distributorship. The facility is free of cost and there is no fee or transfer charges payable for this facility. 55759 portability requests have been successfully completed by OMCs in May 2021.
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