With the month of May just around the corner, expectations of further revision in the rules for booking LPG cylinders have taken the limelight. Due to the West Asia war that began at February-end, the global energy sector is into crisis facing supply shortages, delivery delays and a surge in prices. This pushed countries including India to make significant rules to cushion the LPG supply shortage crisis. While the ongoing conflict of the Middle East still lingers, a host of changes related to gas cylinders could be expected in May 2026.
As per various reports, oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, BPCL, HPCL are likely discussing new rules related to LPG cylinders delivery. An announcement is expected in May 2026, which will change the current scenario of monthly booking and delivery process of LPG.
One of the major expectation is the revision in LPG prices across India from May 1, 2026. Since the US-Israel-Iran war, Indian oil companies have hiked LPG cylinder price by Rs 60 for 14.2KG cylinders across the country. But the 19Kg LPG cylinder prices has been hiked thrice in just a month. For April 2026, 19Kg LPG cylinder prices were hiked by Rs 196 to Rs 218 in metro cities. This was after OMCs hiked prices by Rs 114.5 per cylinder on March 7, which came after the prices were already increased by Rs 28 to Rs 31 on March 1, 2026.
Further, expectations are that the companies could change the lock-in period for booking LPG cylinders from the current 25-day gap between bookings. Also, an OTP-based delivery system is expected to be permanent.
As per the latest update by the government, despite the ongoing geopolitical situation, the Government has ensured that 100% supply is being made to Domestic LPG, Domestic PNG and CNG (Transport). Online LPG cylinder bookings increased to about 98%, while Delivery Authentication Code (DAC) based deliveries have increased to about 94% to prevent diversion.
For commercial LPG, priority has been given to hospitals, educational institutions. Besides this, priority has also been given to pharma, steel, automobile, seed, agriculture, etc. In addition to this, supply of 5 Kg FTL to migrant labour is also doubled.
Latest Gas Cylinder Booking Rules: Gas Cylinder Booking Rules Of 45-Days & 25-Days:
According to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the government has already implemented several rationalisation measures on both the supply and demand side, including enhancing refinery production, increasing the booking interval from 21 to 25 days in urban areas and up to 45 days in rural areas and prioritising sectors for supply.
LPG Biometric Aadhaar Authentication For LPG Connection:
Furthermore, the government made it mandatory for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries to do an Aadhaar-based authentication. As per the latest direction, the ministry clarified that the requirement of eKYC applies to those LPG consumers who have not done eKYC so far. If you are a non-PMUY customer and have done it before, then you are not required to do the LPG biometric Aadhaar authentication.
Further, the ministry said, PMUY customers need to do it only once every financial year, that too only for receiving targeted DBT subsidies after 7 refills i.e. on the 8th and 8th refill. Gas Cylinder Connection To Be Disconnected After 3 Months: Amidst the oil and gas disruption, the government has prioritized the transition of LPG to PNG. Commercial LPG consumers in major cities and urban areas are encouraged to opt for PNG connections and may apply through email, letter or the customer portal of City Gas Distribution (CGD) companies.
It also needs to be noted that the government has already prohibited PNG consumers to surrender their domestic LPG connections and banned them from applying for new LPG connections. Hence, in late March, the government's new order said that LPG supply "shall cease after three months" if a household does not switch to PNG despite the availability. Since March 2026, about 5.45 Lakh PNG connections have been gasified and infrastructure has been created for additional 2.62 lakh connections taking the total to 8.07 lakh connections.
Further, about 6.14 Lakh customers have been registered for new connections, as per the latest data.
