Fresh case of underweight LPG cylinders unearthed in Salcete, raises concerns

LPG cylinders of an agency are being brought at the office of Legal Metrology, Margao, following complaint of underweight cylinders.

Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar

MARGAO
Do LPG cylinders supplied to customers conform to the net weight of 14.2 kilograms? Or, are the cylinders supplied to the customers underweight? One may come across these and many other questions as a fresh case of underweight cylinders have come to light in Salcete on Tuesday.

The incident occurred after a customer Rupesh Lotlikar knocked the doors of the Legal Metrology office, Margao after he suspected that the LPG cylinder supplied to him was underweight.

After his worst fears came true after he weighed the cylinder at the scrapyard, Lotlikar brought the cylinder at the Legal Metrology office to officially get the cylinder weighed. After realisation dawned on the officials that the LPG cylinder was indeed underweight by one kilogram, the Legal Metrology officials traced and brought the vehicle to the Margao office for checking and verification.

To their shock and surprise, the officials found five LPG cylinders underweight, including one cylinder which was found with a seal and the rest unsealed.

While the cylinder with the seal was found underweight by 900 kilograms, the remaining four unsealed cylinders were underweight, ranging between 1.5, 2-3 kilograms.

Given the situation, the Legal Metrology officials seized all five cylinders and also attached the weighing scale on the vehicle, as it was reportedly not verified during the verification certificate exercise.

The agency proprietor, however, has feigned ignorance over the underweight cylinders found on the cylinder distribution vehicle. In fact, the proprietor said the matter needs to be investigated how the LPG cylinders come underweight, saying the cylinders are loaded onto the delivery van after a check-up. In fact, the proprietor told the media that overweight are sometimes found in a load supplied by the companies. “Let the matter be investigated to find out how some of the LPG cylinders come underweight,” the proprietor added.

Incidentally, officials of Legal Metrology had found around 31 out of the 53 LPG cylinders underweight during a raid at Cortalim.

It may be recalled that pilferage of gas from LPG cylinders had triggered uproar in Benaulim village in July 2017, after locals found a devise being used by delivery boys to transfer gas from one cylinder to another. This had prompted officials of petroleum companies to hand out promises to tighten the screws on the agencies and the delivery boys, but in vain.

Calls for mandatory weighing of cylinder at customer’s doorstep

MARGAO: Proprietors of LPG gas agencies insist that their delivery vans are equipped with weighing scales to facilitate weighing of the cylinders at the time of delivery.

The moot question, however, has remained unanswered – why are the delivery boys not made mandatory to fasten the weighing scales on the waists so that the cylinders are compulsorily weighed right at the door steps of the customers?

In fact, this question has remained unanswered till date for reasons best known to the agencies as well as the petroleum companies since delivery boys do not carry the weighing scales at the time of delivery of the cylinders.

“The problem can be addressed to a great extent if the petroleum companies mandate the agencies and their delivery boys to compulsorily weigh the cylinders at the door steps of the customers. In fact, the delivery boys need to be directed to weigh the cylinders at the door steps of the customers, irrespective whether the customer insists on weighing or no,” remarked an activist.

GOACAN Coordinator Roland Martins conceded that despite awareness campaigns, there seemed no end to the incidents of underweight LPG cylinders distributed to the consumers. “I think the petroleum companies should come out with fresh guidelines making weighing of the cylinders at the customer’s doorsteps compulsory,” Roland said, as he has promised to take up the issue with the district authorities for strict enforcement.

Activist Lorna Fernandes also lamented that the issue of underweight LPG cylinders is not completely resolved as evident by the incidents of detection of underweight cylinders by the customers. “The time has come for the consumer protection forums to step in and tone up the system to protect the interests of the customers,” Lorna added.