Commercial LPG supply continues to fall short of demand in Nagpur

Nagpur: While commercial LPG supply has started, the pending backlog means it continues to fall short of demand, leaving hotels, caterers and bulk users struggling to manage operations. LPG dealers say even large distributors receiving barely 50-80 cylinders a day against significantly higher demand, leading to delays and rationing. Dealers attribute the bottleneck to operational constraints triggered by the mandatory OTP-based delivery system, which they say has slowed down the entire supply chain. Bablu Tiwari, state president, LPG Dealers Association of India, said the system has increased delivery time per cylinder, directly reducing the number of refills that can be completed in a day. "Because of OTP verification, each delivery is now taking 10 to 15 minutes, which has sharply reduced the total number of cylinders that can be supplied daily," Tiwari said.The association has flagged multiple ground-level issues in a representation to authorities. Tiwari said OTP delivery often fails because the registered mobile number is not accessible at the time of delivery, especially in households where the connection holder is not present. "Workers in industrial areas cannot access phones during duty hours, many consumers have outdated numbers, and in rural and semi-urban areas, people frequently change SIM cards, making OTP validation unreliable," Tiwari said.Dealers also pointed to technical glitches and logistical hurdles, including cases where OTP messages are not received on certain networks or delivery staff are unable to complete the process due to lack of familiarity with smartphones. "Even software errors during OTP entry are causing repeated delays, adding to the backlog," Tiwari said.A meeting was held on Wednesday with senior district administration officials, along with gas agencies and distributors, to review the situation. Officials directed agencies to ramp up stock in high-demand areas and deploy additional manpower to manage the increased workload and crowds.Refill delivery glitch sparks ruckus at Nara depot, police step inNagpur: A delivery glitch triggered chaos at a gas depot in Nara area on Wednesday after several customers received false SMS notifications claiming their LPG cylinders had been delivered.According to officials, around 25-30 customers received delivery confirmation messages despite not getting cylinders. Enraged, they gathered at the HP gas depot near Nara crematorium and confronted the owner, leading to a tense situation.Cops from Jaripatka police station, led by senior inspector Anil Taksande, reached the spot and brought the situation under control. After discussions with the depot operator, cylinders were distributed to customers based on availability under police supervision.Meanwhile, rumours spread in parts of the city that customers had looted cylinders from the depot. Police, however, clarified that no such incident took place and the matter was resolved peacefully.