Oil marketing companies directed to cut LPG refill wait time equally for rural consumers

State-run oil marketing companies have been directed to adopt a uniform 25-day booking interval for domestic LPG refills in both urban and rural areas, replacing the earlier differentiated timeline that required rural consumers to wait 45 days.

The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas issued the directive to Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, with immediate effect. Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi confirmed that the Central Government had asked the companies to implement the revised uniform interval.

Supply position improves after West Asia conflict pressures

The Ministry's letter, dated September 7, attributed the policy shift to a considerable reduction in refill backlogs compared with the situation when demand-management measures were first introduced. Those measures had been put in place during the outbreak of conflict in West Asia in February 2026, when the Ministry prescribed a 25-day booking interval for urban consumers and 45 days for rural consumers as a temporary step to manage demand amid supply pressure.

With the LPG supply position now easing, the Ministry has decided to do away with the differentiated timeline and revert to a uniform 25-day booking gap for all domestic consumers, regardless of location.

In a Facebook post, Gopi noted that the earlier split between urban and rural booking intervals had been necessitated by pressure on LPG supply arising from the conflict in West Asia. The move to equalize the booking gap ends a seven-month period during which rural households faced a significantly longer wait between refills than their urban counterparts.

Source: The Hindu