The Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM) has urged the Supply Ministry to scrap the practice of selling half-filled cylinders of cooking gas amid mounting complaints of short measure.

On October 28, the government had allowed gas bottlers to sell half-filled cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in an attempt to ration out scarce fuel following the Indian trade embargo. 

The department said it had asked the ministry to end the system since the cooking gas shortage had eased, and bottlers said they did not have enough cylinders to go around.

DoCSM Director Hari Narayan Belbase said they had asked the ministry to annul the provision of half-filled cylinders after receiving complaints from both the consumers and gas sellers. “While consumers have been complaining about being cheated, sellers have been complaining about increased transportation costs and an inadequate supply of cylinders,” he said. 

Belbase added that many gas sellers had been charging up to Rs1,000 per half-filled cylinder citing high shipping charges. Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has fixed the price of a half-filled cylinder of gas weighing 7.1 kg at Rs700. 

The government has instructed both sellers and buyers to weigh the cylinder before concluding a sale, but that has not been happening.

Urmila Pradhan, a resident of Ratopool, said the half-filled cylinder she had bought did not last even a week while a similar quantity was enough to cook meals for her family for two weeks in the past.

According to the Supply Ministry, gas dealers had applied to the ministry a week ago to allow only 14.2-kg cylinders to be sold in the market. Chandra Thapa, general secretary of the Gas Dealers’ Federation, said they had submitted the application to the ministry.

The Supply Ministry said it had not decided on allowing only cylinders containing a full measure of cooking gas. Supply Secretary Bishnu Lamsal said they were 

still holding discussions with 

stakeholders. 

NOC said that it still did not have adequate reserves of cooking gas to demand that the system of half-filled cylinders be ended. NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Ghimire said shipments from India had reached only 33 percent of pre-embargo levels. 

Gas supplies have increased in recent days after India eased restrictions. But Ghimire said shipments seemed to have swelled because the bullets stuck at various border points had been rerouted and brought into the country, and that there had been no actual increase.

According to him, Nepal has received 80 out of the 118 gas bullets stranded at different transit points.