Delhi government likely to announce cap on prices of oxygen cylinders

A senior official on condition, who asked not to be named, said that during Tuesday’s meeting, retailers said the rate for D-type cylinders should be capped at around ₹700 a unit, while the rate for re-fillers should be ₹350.

The Delhi government is planning to cap the prices of oxygen cylinders in the Capital and has increased the number of procurement points for the public from 14 to at least 94, senior officials said on Wednesday.

Hospital staff bring empty oxygen cylinders for a refill. (HT PHOTO)

“We are actively considering capping the prices of oxygen cylinders. On Tuesday, we held a meeting with all dealers, refillers and district magistrates to discuss the issue. A decision will be taken soon,” said Ashish Kundra, Delhi transport commissioner and officer-on-special duty (health).

A senior official on condition, who asked not to be named, said that during Tuesday’s meeting, retailers said the rate for D-type cylinders should be capped at around ₹700 a unit, while the rate for re-fillers should be ₹350. The cost of a B-type cylinder, retailers said, should be around ₹250. The final rates are yet to be fixed, the official said.

Oxygen cylinders are categorised as types A to H, depending on their size and capacity, with A being the smallest. The B-type cylinders are usually used by individual patients, while D-type cylinders are used by hospitals in manifold rooms connected to the hospital’s main gas pipeline.

On average, Delhi has been receiving 579.25 metric tonnes (MT) of oxygen a day from the Centre, of which 42% is being supplied by the railways and 58% is coming through roadways, state government data showed.

The decentralised pool of refill points should also ease the city’s oxygen bottlenecks, said officials.

Until recently, officials said, small hospitals, ambulances, as well as families of Covid-19 patients in home isolation, were queueing at these 14 refill points, resulting in waits of eight or 10 hours in many instances.

“This has been decentralised to some extent now with the central pool of cylinders, to which we have given all district magistrates access. To make cylinders more accessible to patients, we have also identified at least 80 dealers or retailers who will be issued licenses to sell cylinders. So, with these 80 dealers along and 14 refillers, we will have a network of at least 94 authorised points where people can get oxygen cylinders,” Kundra said.

All these 94 points have been linked to the government’s online oxygen portal.

A Bawana-based dealer whose name and number were recently linked to the government portal said, “On May 10, we got permission to refill oxygen cylinders. We are asking for the IDs of the patient and the person who has come to refill the cylinder, along with a doctor’s prescription.”

Another dealer, who asked not to be named, said, “We have been getting calls from people for oxygen supply ever since our name was put up on the website, but we can’t help them, because we are not getting oxygen supply.”

But V Ashok, another dealer listed on the portal, said, “We are providing empty oxygen cylinders to people right now, because we do not have clarity about oxygen supply. So, we are guiding those who come to us to the nearest oxygen refilling plant. I hope the government gives some clarity on whether these dealers are allowed to refill cylinders and sell them in their stores.”

The senior official quoted above said the government is getting in touch with all dealers, giving them the licenses and clearances necessary and explaining the process to them.

“The dealers will have to get cylinders, refill them and sell them. They can include the transportation costs and minor profit margin. The government will soon cap the prices of these medical goods,” said the official.

Residents on Wednesday pointed out that the oxygen cylinder booking portal that was announced by the Delhi government a week ago has not yet been made fully operational.

The “online booking for refilling of oxygen cylinder-Delhi government-corona relief” link, which was put up on the Delhi government’s portal on May 6, was replaced with “Oxygen cylinder near you” a few days back, which provides the list of 94 oxygen dealers/depots along with their address and contact numbers.

Satyajit Vaish, President of Manav Vikas Society and a resident of Panchsheel Park who has been helping people in home isolation arrange oxygen cylinders, said, “Most of these dealers don’t answer the phone. They can’t provide or refill an oxygen cylinder. One has to go to the authorised refilling plants. The government must provide at least one dealer in each assembly constituency where people can get the cylinders refilled.”