The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has been implementing various measures—such as mandatory e-KYC for consumers and sending OTP (DAC) codes to registered mobile numbers—to ensure complete transparency in the booking and supply of LPG cylinders. However, collusion between certain gas agency delivery personnel and the mafia involved in the black marketing of domestic gas appears to be rendering all efforts by the ministry and gas companies futile. Live videos and photographs reveal the reality: delivery personnel are striking deals with black marketeers, loading as many as five cylinders onto a single scooter to facilitate the illicit trade of domestic gas.
Reports indicate that delivery personnel are supplying cylinders to the mafia at black-market rates ranging from ₹1,300 to ₹1,500, whereas the official market price set by gas companies for a 14.2 kg domestic cylinder is approximately ₹969. It is also worth noting that ordinary consumers face immense hassle—often having to plead with delivery personnel and agency dealers—just to get a cylinder booked and delivered. Shockingly, officials from gas companies and controllers from the Food and Civil Supplies Department—who make grand claims about curbing the black marketing of domestic gas—seem to have no control over this gas mafia. Consequently, a dangerous trade in black-market domestic gas is flourishing openly across most parts of the city. Major Action Imminent: Controller
Sartaj Singh Cheema and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu, Controllers from the Food and Supplies Department, stated that major action would soon be taken against the mafia involved in the illicit trade of domestic LPG—a business they described as a “deadly trade”—and its black-marketing in the city. They announced that teams have been constituted to conduct raids on suspected hideouts of the gas mafia; furthermore, in addition to strict departmental action against the black-marketers, complaints will be lodged directly with the police on-site to register cases under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
