Pune: Restaurants and caterers in the city on Monday said the commercial LPG cylinder crisis is leading to overcharging, inflated rates and lack of transparency in distribution, with some eateries beginning to levy “gas surcharges” on customers to pass on the burden of potential losses.The development comes even as state govt has started inspections to curb black marketing of the precious commodity.When TOI spoke to a restaurant on Bhandarkar Road to enquire about a reservation, staff said prices had been increased by nearly one-third due to the gas shortage.“We are charging an extra 30% on the total bill right now. Once the gas issue is resolved, regular rates will be restored,” the restaurant representative said, adding, “Each cylinder costs around Rs7,000 right now.”Aditi Ambavane, a working professional, said she was charged an additional fee at a food outlet in a mall in Pimpri Chinchwad in the name of the gas crisis. “I was charged an extra ‘gas surcharge’ on my food bill. It was around 5% of the total amount,” she said, adding that she retained a copy of the bill.Ambavane said the charge appeared inconsistent across outlets in the same food court. “I asked another restaurant next door why they had not added any gas charges. They told me they had piped gas and were not facing higher costs, so they were not charging anything extra. That made me wonder why the other outlet was adding a surcharge,” she said.Industry representatives said such surcharges are being charged only by some restaurants. Ajinkya Udane, co-chapter head of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), Pune, said, “Customers should not have to deal with arbitrary surcharges. Such charges may not be legal unless there is an official order allowing them. Usually, any surcharge comes through govt directions and not by individual decisions. NRAI as an association doesnt have a control over these independent decisions taken by restaurants.”Caterers and restaurant operators also alleged that despite govt checks, the ground situation remains unclear and there are signs of profiteering.Ksshetij Shimpi, a caterer, alleged sharply inflated rates at the distribution level and said he had to recently purchase such overpriced commercial cylinders. “Since the shortage began, I have so far ordered 10 commercial LPG cylinders at Rs5,000 each from a vendor, compared to the earlier price of around Rs1,800 per cylinder. The vendor told me he is getting the cylinders at a higher rate, which is why the price had increased. But we have no way to verify this claim,” said Shimpi.A city-based hotelier also cited unusually high commercial cylinder rates in the open market. “On Sunday, a colleague from the industry managed to buy a commercial cylinder for Rs6,800. These are not normal prices, but people are forced to pay because supply is uncertain,” he said.
