Kolkata: The online and phone-based LPG booking system returned to normal on Saturday after oil companies restored the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) that crashed earlier this week due to a sudden surge in consumer calls. The restoration brought significant relief to thousands of households across Bengal that were forced to queue at distributor offices to book domestic gas cylinders. The OMCs were forced to return to old manual booking on March 12.The disruption triggered widespread anxiety among consumers, leading to panic booking and unusually high call volumes that overwhelmed the system. Oil company officials said the problem was addressed by expanding the IVRS infrastructure and setting up new call-handling facilities.Sources in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said the company earlier operated only 1 IVRS centre located in Mumbai. Following the crisis, the company introduced 4 additional centres across the country, including a new facility at Siliguri dedicated to handling calls from Bengal and the eastern region.“Following the problem, we spoke to our operator, revised the operational arrangements and asked them to set up additional centres to handle the load,” an IOC official said.The new Siliguri centre is expected to significantly improve the booking process. Officials said it will be capable of handling up to 100 calls per second, a major upgrade from the earlier capacity of about 10 calls per second from Bengal.The need for expanded capacity became evident after the number of bookings surged sharply during the crisis. According to company sources, the average number of LPG bookings in the state jumped from around 2.8 lakh to nearly 5.9 lakh within a 48-hour period as consumers rushed to secure cylinders.“As IVRS was not functioning properly, there was a chaotic situation for a few days. With the new infrastructure in place, the system should now stabilise,” the official added.The restoration of IVRS already eased pressure on LPG distributors across Kolkata and its suburbs. Dealers reported that the long queues seen outside their offices earlier in the week began to thin out as more consumers returned to booking cylinders from home.“The demand-supply situation is gradually swinging back to normal,” said Asim Som, a distributor and vice-president of the Indane LPG Distributors’ Association. “Yesterday, our office was crowded as more than 100 came for manual booking. Today, the rush is far less as consumers are once again using IVRS to book cylinders from home.”For many, the system’s return ended days of anxiety over kitchen fuel supplies.Subhra Roy, a resident of Sector III in Salt Lake, said repeated booking failures left her worried about running out of cooking gas. “With consecutive booking failures, I became very worried. Finally, I managed to book on Wednesday and received the cylinder on Friday. Now I can cook normally again. Every household depends heavily on LPG, so any disruption throws the kitchen out of gear,” she said.Senior citizen Biswarup Mukherjee from Ultadanga described a similar experience. “I kept trying for 5 days but every attempt failed because of the server issue. On Friday, I finally managed to book and requested urgent delivery. Thankfully, I received the cylinder soon after,” he said. However, some residents believe the crisis worsened due to panic-booking. Jayasree Baidya of Jadavpur said some households attempted to secure additional cylinders, fearing shortage. “I booked a cylinder about 10 days ago and received it today. But many people are panicking and trying to keep extra cylinders at home,” she said.
