Sandeep Rana,Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, March 8

Next time, rather than cribbing about not receiving your LPG cylinder on time, better approach the district consumer court. The court here has come down heavily on an LPG distributor asking the agency to pay Rs 25,000 to a retired Lieutenant Colonel for faulty bookings and non-delivery of cylinders on time.The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has asked Kalka Ji Gas Service, Pinjore, to “pay Rs 15,000 as compensation on account of deficiency in service and causing mental and physical harassment to the complainant, Lt Col NR Sharma (retd)”. It also ordered the firm to pay him Rs 10,000 towards the cost of litigation.The ex-serviceman, a resident of Amravati Enclave, Panchkula, stated in his complaint that being a registered LPG consumer of the firm, he had hardly been provided hassle-free services by the distributor. He had to face a great deal of difficulty in getting his refill due to inordinate delay by the agency.He alleged that in March 2015, he came across instances where the dealer had booked fake orders against his name/consumer number in the past. Not only this, sometimes refills were not supplied against duly booked (manually) orders to him.The complainant said the system of booking and delivery was found to be proper when the online/IVRS system was functional. However, whenever the online system was down, manipulations in booking and delivery were done by the gas service provider.It was alleged that the problem of undue delay in supply of cylinders on the part of the distributor had also been experienced by other residents of the locality.Pronouncing the order, the court observed, “No satisfactory reply has been given by the distributor about the delayed delivery of cylinders, which were booked manually by the complainant when the system (IVRS/online) was down. Hence, we are of the view that the complainant was put to great mental agony and harassment.”However, complaints against two other parties — HP Gas Customer Service Cell, Sector 19, and Food and Supplies Department, Sector 17 — were dismissed by the court.