Allegations of irregularities in LPG sales in Sylhet

Sylhet Bureau :
Some filling stations in Sylhet division have been accused of illegally selling LPG gas through ‘cross filling’. This is affecting ordinary buyers and authorized dealers. The complaint states that those filling stations are using various manipulations to fill cylinders with less gas than their weight. The leaders of the ‘Sylhet LPG Distributors Association’ have said that if these irregularities are not eliminated soon, they will launch a larger program and all those LPG companies will have to take responsibility for it. They said that customers are constantly being cheated. Authorized dealers are also being affected. Selling LPG gas from filling stations to cylinders through ‘cross filling’ is a completely illegal and punishable crime. The leaders said that the pumps in Sylhet that illegally sell gas in cylinders should be stopped from supplying liquid.

LPG dealers said that only registered dealers have the legal right to sell LPG in cylinders to retail shops. But some filling stations are doing a booming business by violating that law. As a result, the real dealers cannot sell their allocated LPG at the price fixed by the company. There is dissatisfaction and anger among the dealers concerned about this.

Meanwhile, in the emerging situation, a meeting was held last Saturday at a hotel in the city with the ‘Sylhet LPG Distributors Association’ and representatives of 12 private LPG companies in Sylhet. The meeting discussed the irregularities and corruption of those filling stations in detail.

The leaders of the association also said that all LPG distributors in Sylhet district will have to reduce their sales target by 25-30 percent from next month. It will not be possible to give a fabricated sales target. Gas will have to be supplied at the same rate every month. Gas prices cannot be reduced or increased in the same month. ‘To stop cross-filling, the prices of 35 and 45 kg gas should be fixed in line with 12 kg as per government rules.

They said that the companies should also implement the gas prices on the date on which the government fixes the new price. Representatives of LPG gas companies assured the meeting that they would inform the higher authorities about the matter and take immediate action.

The meeting was presided over by Mahbubur Rahman, President of the Distributors Association. Representatives of various private LPG companies included Uni Gas Company Manager Ekramul Kabir, Fresh Gas Manager Sharifuzzaman, JMI Gas Senior Manager Sarwar Alam, Association Vice President Kamal Hossain Bhuiyan, Advisor Rezaul Hasan Zakaria, General Secretary Zuber Ahmed, etc.