Fact Check: LPG booking gap increases to 35 days? Govt clarifies claim is false
A post circulating on social media claims that the gap between LPG bookings has increased from 25 days to 35 days.
By - Rahul Adhikari
Claim:The LPG bookings gap has increased from 25 days to 35 days.
Fact:False. The PIB clarified that no changes have been made to LPG booking rules, and it remains at 25 days.
Hyderabad: The ongoing West Asia conflict, involving the US, Israel and Iran, has disrupted LPG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for India’s imports. According to a Reuters report, dated March 24, the disruptions are likely to halve India’s LPG imports this month.
In this context, a post circulating on social media claims that the Indian government increased the gap between LPG cylinder bookings.
Several users shared the claim on Facebook and X. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Explaining the purported gap, a Facebook user wrote, “Domestic gas bookings can now be made after 35 days, not 25. The game of good times begins. Stay tuned.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. No changes have been made to LPG booking rules, and the booking gap remains 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas.
Government clarification
We found that on March 25, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) published a press release clarifying that the claims circulating online are not true.
The statement read, “It has come to the notice of the Government that certain news reports and social media posts are claiming revised LPG refill booking timelines—45 days for PMUY connections, 25 days for non-PMUY single bottle connections, and 35 days for non-PMUY double bottle connections.”
The press release further stated that no such changes have been made. The existing refill booking timelines remain unchanged and continue to be 25 days in urban areas and 45 days in rural areas, irrespective of the connection type.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas also clarified on March 25 that no changes have been made to the gas booking rules.
Were there changes made to the booking gap?
PIB Fact Check posted a clarification video on March 25, which addressed a News18 report claiming that the gap between LPG booking days had been extended to 35 days.
Earlier, on March 11, the PIB published a press release stating that, as a temporary demand-management measure, the minimum gap between LPG bookings was increased from 21 days to 25 days.
After extending it to 25 days, no new changes have been made.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim is false.
