[Resolved]  Indane — harassment by the distributor

Address:

Khordha, Odisha

1) On 6th April 2013 at around 11.30 AM I had been to M/S Global Indane Panchasakhanagar, Dumuduma, Bhubaneswar for transferring the Indane connection No 3329 of one of my relatives, Sri Subhadarshi Dash to New Delhi to where Sri Dash & his family have now shifted. On prior consultation with M/S Global Indane on 23.3.2013 Sri Subhadarshi Dash had authorised me in writing to surrender the cylinders and regulators alongwith the original subscription vouchers and to obtain transfer documents and refund of deposits etc from the agency on his behalf.

2) Accordingly, to avoid the unncessary hassels of transporting the cylinders I initially approached M/S Global Indane to doubly confirm if they will be accepting the authorisation and do the needful to issue the transfer documents etc . On verifying the authorisation, my Id proof and all other documents they advised me to bring the cylinders and regulator for surrender. Accordingly, by hiring an autorickshaw I brought two cylinders to Global Indane and they received the same into their office. I also surrendered the regulator to them.

3) While waiting in their counter for processing of my case I observed that one woman consumer was taking a new connection and the concerned staff of M/S Global Indane was pressurising her to purchase a gas stove saying that the Indane has made it now compulosory to purchase gas chulla from them while taking a new connection. When the women feebly protested against it the concerned staff thretened her to cancel the issue of the connection. Seeing that a consumer, that too a woman, was being unnecessarily harassed and was unable to withstand the pressure of the agency I advised her that the agency staff were pressurising her beyond rules and she could not be compelled to purchase the stove from them. But, she should have a gas stove with BIS mark which the distributor can verify to ensure the safety in use of the connection since ensuring safety in use of the connection to avoid leakage and explosion is supposed to be the primary responsility of gas supplying authority and their distributors. When the woman consumer pointed this to the staff of the agency he got agitated and again threatened to cancel the connection. I remembered the similar way I was pressurised and harassed when I took the connection way back in 1992. At that time, I thought it proper in the common interest to take the side of the harassed consumer and pointed out to the display of the notification under MRTP Act on the wall of the agency and told the staff of the agency that they were doing something illegal. From the gesture of the staff I could guess that he has never bothered to understand what that notification meant, what for such a notification was there at all and perhaps, nor was he ever sensitised about it. The notification being in English and a bit difficult legal language, I could also guess that many of the consumers present there including the concerned woman consumer were finding it difficult to make out what that notification meant.

4) At this point most of the staff of M/S Global Indane came out, got united and threteningly started questioning me what business have I got to interfere in their afairs and advising the woman consumer not to purchase the stove from them. When I told them that as a common citizen and also a consumer I have every right to protest against an illegal thing they were doing as an authorised distributor of a public sector undertaking and distorting the public distribution system of an essential commodity, that too, when the government is very rightly trying to discipline the gas distribution system to prevent pilferage in the fuel distribution vital to the economy of the nation.

5) Then, the manager of the agency came out and intimidatingly told me that he would show me what the rule was and how it works and then, advised his staff not to process my case and return my surrendered cylinders, gas papers and the regulator. At this point his staff got encouraged to behave like rougues gheraoing me just short of physically manhandling, refused to process my case of transferring the connection, returned the papers, regulator and the cylinders.

6) Ultimately the woman consumer was feeling too much frightened and harassed and the staff of the agency , in the mean time were cooking up so much alibis to either delay or cancel her connection. Then her husband present there advised her not to enter into the hassels by protesting and purchased the stove and left by taking the new connection. Surprise of surprises, the other consumers present there, may be feeling threatened by the united intimidation of the agency staff or may be due to the prevailing typical common Indian unconcern for the common cause advised me to go for a compromise with the agency and get my case processed without entering into unnecessary hitches.

7) The staff of the agency then jeered me to see for myself how the rule works and dared me to go and lodge complain anywhere I liked and that, they were prepared to face any eventuality. They told me that it is the public sector companies who were giving the targets to distributors to sell the stoves, pipes and other accessories to the conumers by any means. If it is illegal then why they were giving the targets to them and of course, I didn’t have any explaination.

8) Besides, the transfer of connection of my relative, being a staff of NABARD, Bhubaneswar I was to carry out a discussion with the manager of the agency regarding irregular supply of gas against the official connections of NABARD. This was for the third time I was going to sort out the same problem of the official connections. That day after this unsavourry incident when I requested for discussing about the supply of gas against the connections of my office, they kept me waiting and intentionally made me run from this counter to that counter. When I insisted upon discussing, since it was my official compulsion and I had to clarify my higher ups regarding it they somehow hesitantly obliged me. It is another matter that the small issue still remained inconclusive, may be, needing a fourth visit to the agency.

9) Ultimately, I had to call back the autorickshaw reload the cylinders at the peak of temperature in the noon that day and return back to my home with a much bigger load of humiliation as I think, for protesting against an illegal and arbitrary act. I don’t think this must be a stray case; many of the consumers must be facing this abuse of dominant position by the distributors and as I have mentioned earlier, I had faced it 18 years back. What I feel, no concrete measures are being taken to prevent this except perfunctorily displyaing the intelligible provisions of law in the notice boards of the distributors without creating awareness and taking measures how to successfully implement and enforce them, otherwise the distribution agencies would not dare to be so audacious in exploiting and intimidating the consumers.

I request and hope that your good office may kindly look into the matter and take both deterrent and remedial measures as may be deemed proper and just in the public interest to prevent the abuse of dominant position of the distributors as enshrined in the provisions of law. In my personal case I also request you to immediately allow the transfer of the connection No 3329 of my relative Sri Subhadarsi Dash on his authorisation to me ( copy enclosed for ready reference) since his family would be suffering there at New Delhi without getting an essential commodity like cooking gas.

Yours faithfully



(J N Panda)

Residence-48 Asiana Plaza, Dumuduma Bhubaneswar

Official Address-C/O NABARD Nayapalli Bhubaneswar
Mob-[protected].
[protected]@rediffmail.com, [protected]@gmail.com

Copy submitted to-

1) The In-Charge, Consumer Care, Indane, Alokbharati Towers, Saheednagar, Bhubaneswar.

2) The District Civil Supplies Officer, District Collectorate, Khurda,

3) Sri S.B.Mohapatra, President/Secretary, Gas Distributors Association, Odisha, C/O Rajdhani Gas, Nayapalli, Odisha, with a request to intervene in the matter for a better coordination, understanding and cooperation between the consumers and the distributors in and to further the establishment of rule of law in the common interest.

4) Sri Ranjan Mahapatra, Proprietor, Global Indane, Panchasakhanagar, Dumuduma, Bhubaneswar.




(J N Panda)
1) The In-Charge, Consumer Care, Indane, Alokbharati Towers, Saheednagar, Bhubaneswar.

2) The District Civil Supplies Officer, District Collectorate, Khurda,

3) Sri S.B.Mohapatra, President/Secretary, Gas Distributors Association, Odisha, C/O Rajdhani Gas, Nayapalli, Odisha, with a request to intervene in the matter for a better coordination, understanding and cooperation between the consumers and the distributors in and to further the establishment of rule of law in the common interest.

4) Sri Ranjan Mahapatra, Proprietor, Global Indane, Panchasakhanagar, Dumuduma, Bhubaneswar

(J N Panda)