IOC to rope in postmen to check fake LPG connections
New Delhi   05-Nov-2011

Concerned over several Indane LPG connections held in fake names, IndianOil (IOC) has decided to rope in postmen to find out how many households hold gas connections which they are not entitled to hold.

According to sources in the Department of Posts (DoP), IOC is in the final stages of deciding the terms and conditions under which postmen will work "as sort of sleuths" to keep a tab on fake connections and report back on their details especially in the semi-urban and rural areas.

The IOC authorities are believed to be keen on using postmen for the job because the DoP operates one of the oldest and most extensive mail services in the world, with about 26,000 full time and 1,300,000 part time post offices.

The sources said that on its part the DoP is also keen to deploy its postmen for the job because in the recent past their workload has come down by close to 65 per cent because of the use of internet, e-mail services, cellphone communication as also the rising number of courier operators, which are likely to make the postman redundant in the near future. The postal authorities are also considering diversifying into other activities to keep their staff usefully employed apart from finding additional work for postmen.

Authorities of IOC are concerned about reports that in many cases one family has more than two connections on the same address and some of them are also selling cylinders to the black market at huge profit margins.

Since the postmen has access to a large number of people on account of the fact that they deliver letters and parcels and other eagerly awaited postal items. They also enjoy access to many secrets of families. It will thus become easy for them to access information about fake cylinders. Apart from that, the postmen will also be able to report about the authenticity of address changes that people often fake to get benefits of various kinds. While the postmen will pass on the information to their superiors, they will give it to the IOC authorities who can take action under various rules.

Today, over 50 per cent of LPG connections, around 60 million, the country over are of Indane, the second largest world's marketer of LPG after SHV of The Netherlands. IOC delivers 1.2 million cylinders everyday.