R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, MARCH 31
In spite of 21-day lockdown announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fight against the COVID-19, the PSU Oil Companies led by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) are working round the clock to ensure that motoring fuels and LPG cooking gas are made available to the public for essential requirements besides emergency services including Ambulances and Government Vehicles, said P. Jayadevan, State Head of Indian Oil Corporation Limited, and State Level Coordinator for Oil Industry in TN & Puducherry here on Tuesday.
The Retail fuel and LPG Delivery Chains of the PSU companies which have the critical responsibility of reaching fuels and cooking gas to crores of customers across the state have been functioning very effectively.
To support these groups which have been working under several constraints in the current environment and as a goodwill gesture, the Government and PSU Oil Companies have taken certain initiatives.
Rs. 5 lakh Ex-Gratia for essential workers
LPG and Motor fuels being essential commodities which need to be manually handled at every stage in the process of delivery, the employees of Petrol Pump Dealers like the Customer Attendants and Managers and those of the distributors like refill delivery men, showroom staff, Godown Keepers and LPG Mechanics, Truck Drivers including Bulk/pack transporters, need to be always present physically to ensure the supplies to the customers. Since this constantly exposes them to the threat and risk of COVID-19, a special one-time goodwill measure has been introduced to give an Ex-gratia amount of Rs. 5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakh) in the event of death of any of the above personnel due to COVID 19. The amount would be given to the spouse or in the absence of spouse, to the next to the kin of the deceased.
Uninterrupted supply of LPG: Due to the current lockdown situation, customers are resorting to panic booking, resulting in back-logs in the market, depriving the genuine customers who are in real need of refills of the supplies.
As on date all the LPG bottling plants of the PSU Oil Companies are operating normally and regularly, providing sufficient supplies of refill stocks to the distributor network of the companies.
The distributors also have adequate stocks for delivery to the customers. Indian Oil through its network of over 900 distributors is supplying to 1.3 crores customers in Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, delivering 2.2 lakh cylinders per day.
The BPCL and HPCL are also regularly supplying to their customers through their own network of bottling plants and distributors.
The Oil PSUs would like to assure the customers that there is absolutely no shortage of LPG. However, as a physical measure to prevent panic booking, it has been decided that a customer who gets a refill would not be able to book the next refill for a minimum period of 15 days. This includes the PMUY Beneficiaries as well.
Three numbers of Free Refills to PMUY Customers
To lessen the financial burden of the PMUY customers whose earnings have come under severe pressure owing to lock down, it has been decided by the Govt. of India to give them three refills, free of cost, one each for the months of April, May & June 2020. This would be made available only to the PMUY customers of IndianOil, BPC and HPC and not to any other category of customers. It has also been decided to credit the full RSP of these cylinders to the relevant linked bank accounts of the PMUY beneficiaries, beforehand solely to enable them to pay for the LPG Refills when they are delivered.
The booking of refill must be done through IVRS/registered mobile number. Refill Acknowledgement can be OTP based/ Lat-Long Capture/undertaking besides cash memo signature and blue book entry.
The customers can book LPG refills from their homes through SMS/IVRS, Whatsapp @ 7588888824 or online (IndianOilOne APP or https://cx.indianoil.in ) or through PayTm for delivery of LPG refill cylinders, the release said.
Contribution to PM CARES fund
The employees of Oil PSUs have contributed their two days’ salary amounting to over 60 Crores to PM CARES fund to strengthen the efforts of Government in action against the pandemic COVID-19 spread.
The Oil Company installations including storage terminals, LPG Bottling Plants and marketing channel partners are doing their best in terms of distribution of food and water to the stranded people and drivers of fuel and LPG Transport vehicles in view of non-availability of eateries en-route on the Highways.
Customers are encouraged to make digital payments wherever possible to avoid unnecessary handling of currency notes in view of COVID – 19. The LPG emergency helpline 1906 is fully operational, said a statement issued by Mr. Jayadevan.
