It’s official: Gas-booking goes offline

Kolkata: Hundreds of LPG consumers across Kolkata faced long queues and mounting anxiety on Thursday as a crash in the online booking system disrupted cylinder bookings, prompting oil marketing companies (OMCs) to temporarily allow manual booking through distributors.The online platform, used for booking LPG cylinders through mobile apps, websites and call centres, reportedly crashed following an unprecedented surge in bookings triggered by panic-buying and a surge in e-KYC updation. The sudden spike in demand came amid concerns over fuel security linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. In response to the crisis, OMCs asked LPG distributors to begin accepting manual bookings to ease pressure on the overloaded system.

"We asked distributors to start manual booking while we work to streamline the online system through server upgrades," said an OMC official. "This is a temporary measure to manage the current situation and not to harass consumers. Once the system is stabilised, we will return to online booking."At an authorised Indane LPG dealership on Marquis Street, dozens of anxious consumers gathered from early morning, hoping to secure cooking gas.

Despite having about 200 cylinders in stock, the dealer was unable to distribute them because official booking confirmation was still required.Seventy two-year-old Gadadhar Ghosh, a resident of Sukur Sarkar Lane, who waited in line at the Marquis Street dealership hoping to book a refill, returned home disappointed after being told that booking could not be processed until the server was restored."For the last five days, I tried to book a cylinder because the one at home may run out any moment," Ghosh said.

"Today, I stood in line at the dealer's office but they told me no cylinder can be given without booking. Now I must wait until the server is restored."LPG distributors said the unprecedented rush of online booking attempts appeared to overwhelm the Indian Oil Corporation's server. "There was no server connectivity since 9 am and we don't know when it will be restored," said Asim Som, vice-president of the Indane LPG Distributors' Association and owner of the Marquis Street dealership.

"The panic rush for bookings on the IOC site likely caused the crash."The unusual situation also created safety concerns for delivery staff. Som said many delivery workers were hesitant to take cylinders out for distribution because they feared crowds might attempt to snatch them. "I have been in this business for more than three decades and never experienced such a situation," he said.The chaos even drew some well-known faces to dealership offices.

Former Iranian-Indian footballer Jamshid Nassiri was spotted at the Marquis Street office while trying to update his address for KYC verification. "I heard that many people came here because of the server problem affecting gas booking," Nassiri said. "My purpose, however, is to change my address."Similar scenes were reported at other LPG dealerships across Kolkata. At a dealer office on Suresh Sarkar Street, residents queued up from early morning but returned empty-handed as the server outage continued. Entally resident Soumyakanti Chakraborty said he booked a cylinder about 15 days ago but still did not receive delivery. "I waited in the queue until afternoon today but nothing happened," he said.