Govt bars PNG users from holding domestic LPG connections

New Delhi: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has amended the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulation of Supply and Distribution) Order, 2000 to bar consumers with piped natural gas (PNG) connections from retaining or obtaining domestic LPG connections. The amendment was notified through a gazette notification dated March 14, under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

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The order states that “no person having a Piped Natural Gas connection and also having domestic LPG connection shall retain a domestic LPG connection, or take refills of domestic LPG cylinders from any Government oil company, or through their distributors.” Consumers who currently hold both connections will be required to give up their LPG connection immediately.

The notification adds that “such persons will be required to immediately surrender their domestic LPG connection.”

PNG consumers cannot obtain LPG connections

The amendment also prohibits households with piped natural gas from applying for domestic LPG connections in the future. According to the notification, “No person having a Piped Natural Gas connection, shall obtain a domestic LPG connection, or take refills of domestic LPG cylinders from any Government oil company, or through their distributors.”

The new rules came into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Govt oil companies barred from supplying LPG to PNG users

The notification also revises the list of prohibited activities for government oil companies under Schedule I of the LPG Order. It states that government oil companies are prohibited from “providing a domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas connection, and/or supplying domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas cylinder refills to a consumer who already owns a Piped Natural Gas connection.”

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The amendment forms part of the government’s regulatory framework governing the supply and distribution of LPG under the Essential Commodities Act. The order comes as India faces an LPG supply squeeze amid a blockade imposed on traffic movement by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran closed the strait in the aftermath of the killing of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei by the US and Israel. India is dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for importing nearly 90 percent of its LPG and 30 percent of LNG consumption. The government has begun securing LPG and LNG supplies from non-Hormuz sources, however, the supply gap still persists.

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