PNG Gas Bill Wrong? Meter, Refund and Security Deposit Dispute Guide

Who this guide is for

This guide is for households and small businesses in India that take piped natural gas through a city gas distribution (CGD) company and have a billing, meter, disconnection, or deposit problem. It is useful if you are:

• Staring at a PNG bill that is two or three times your normal amount with no change in usage.
• Sure the meter reading on the bill is wrong, or the bill says "estimated" or "provisional".
• Facing a disconnection notice over an amount you believe you do not owe.
• Trying to recover a security deposit after surrendering, shifting, or transferring the connection.
• Unable to find your original deposit receipt and worried the company will refuse the refund.

Piped gas is different from an LPG cylinder. The supplier is your local CGD company, the meter sits in your home, and the relationship is governed by a connection agreement plus the company's published terms. The national regulator is the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). Whether your specific gas company is a government body, a private firm, or a joint venture matters a lot for the RTI route, which we cover below.

If your problem is actually with an electricity meter or an inflated power bill, read our companion guide on a wrong electricity meter reading and inflated bill instead. If you received a suspicious "pay or disconnection" message, check our guide on the electricity bill scam over WhatsApp and SMS, because gas-bill versions of the same scam exist.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Find the disputed bill and read it carefully. Note three numbers: the opening (previous) reading, the closing (current) reading, and the units consumed (usually in standard cubic metres, SCM). Check whether the bill is tagged estimated or provisional rather than based on an actual reading. Write down your consumer number (also called BP or account number) — you will quote it in every complaint.

Walk to your gas meter and take a clear photo of the full meter face. Make sure the date and time are on. If your phone does not stamp the photo, open a clock or newspaper app in the frame, or note the date in writing immediately. Read the index exactly as shown. This single photo is the most valuable piece of evidence you can gather.

Pull out your connection agreement and the original security deposit receipt. These tell you the agreed tariff basis, the deposit amount, and the refund terms. If you cannot find them, do not panic — we cover duplicate proof later.

Saturday

Compare your fresh meter photo with the closing reading on the bill. If your meter today shows a lower number than the closing reading already billed, the company has clearly over-read or estimated too high. If the bill is "estimated", an actual reading almost always corrects it. Note the exact gap in units.

Reconstruct your usage history. Look at three to six previous bills and write down the units consumed each cycle. A genuine spike has a cause — a new gas geyser, winter heating, a longer billing cycle, or a guest household. If nothing changed and the units doubled, you have a strong case that the reading or the estimate is wrong.

Draft your written complaint (use the template in this guide). Keep it factual: consumer number, bill number, the disputed amount, your meter photo reading with date, and a clear request to issue a corrected bill based on an actual reading. Decide the undisputed amount — roughly your normal bill — which you will pay to protect yourself from disconnection.

Sunday

Assemble your evidence bundle in order: disputed bill, meter photo, past bills, deposit receipt (if surrendering), and your written complaint. Save everything as PDFs and keep printed copies.

Lodge the complaint through every channel your gas company offers — its customer-care number, its app or website complaint form, and its email. The goal is to get a written complaint or docket number. A phone-only complaint with no reference number is hard to escalate later. Note the agent name, date, and time of each call.

Set a reminder to follow up early in the week, and again at the end of the resolution window the company quotes you. If you are claiming a deposit refund, submit the surrender or transfer application the same way and keep the acknowledgement.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Confirm whether the problem is reading, estimate, or tariff

Open the disputed bill and your fresh meter photo side by side. Three patterns are common. First, an over-read: the billed closing reading is higher than what your meter actually shows. Second, an estimate: the bill is tagged "estimated" or "provisional" because the meter reader could not access the meter, so the company guessed your usage. Third, a tariff or slab change: the units are right but the rate per unit went up. Each needs a different argument, so identify yours before you complain.

Step 2 — Capture and date your meter evidence

Photograph the entire meter face so the company cannot say you cropped or edited it. Keep the connection number plate or seal in frame if possible. Note the date and time. From now on, photograph the meter on the same day each cycle. A simple month-by-month photo log is the single best defence against future over-reading, because it lets you reconstruct true consumption for any disputed period.

Step 3 — Pay the undisputed amount, dispute the rest in writing

Do not refuse to pay the whole bill — that hands the company a clean reason to disconnect. Work out roughly what a normal bill would be for the period and pay that undisputed amount before the due date. Then lodge a written dispute for the balance, clearly stating you are withholding only the bona fide disputed portion and asking that supply not be disconnected over it. Keep the payment receipt.

Step 4 — Lodge a formal complaint and get a docket number

Raise the dispute through the company's official channels: customer-care helpline, the complaint form in its app or website, and email to its service address. Ask specifically for a complaint or docket number and a resolution date. Request that the company depute someone to take an actual meter reading and issue a revised bill. Record every call with the agent name, date, and time. Written and traceable beats verbal every time.

Step 5 — Insist on an actual reading and a corrected bill

If the bill was estimated or over-read, the fix is a verified physical reading. Ask the company in writing to send a meter reader, to record the reading in your presence, and to share the reading sheet. If the company suspects a faulty meter, ask them to test it and to share the test result and any replacement reading. Get the corrected bill in writing, not just a verbal promise to "adjust next cycle".

Step 6 — Handle disconnection and reconnection properly

If you receive a disconnection notice, read the reason and the amount. If it is for the disputed portion, reply in writing immediately, attach proof you paid the undisputed amount, and quote your complaint number. If supply is cut despite a genuine dispute, photograph the disconnected meter, keep the notice, and treat it as deficiency in service to raise in escalation. Ask in writing about the reconnection charge and timeline so there are no surprises.

Step 7 — Claim your security deposit on surrender or transfer

When you move out or close the connection, submit a written surrender (or transfer) application quoting your consumer number. Return any company-owned equipment and get a return acknowledgement. Clear the final bill. Attach your security deposit receipt and your bank account details for the refund. Ask for the refund timeline in writing and keep the acknowledged copy of your application. If you lost the receipt, request a duplicate or a deposit confirmation against your consumer number.

Step 8 — Escalate to the nodal officer, then PNGRB, then consumer court

If the company does not resolve the issue within the time it quoted, escalate to its nodal or grievance redressal officer in writing, quoting the unresolved complaint number. If that fails, take the matter to the PNGRB grievance mechanism. For a refund of money wrongly withheld or compensation for deficient service, you can file before the appropriate consumer commission under the Consumer Protection Act. We cover the consumer route in detail in our security deposit not returned refund guide, which uses the same deposit-recovery logic.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act, 2005 applies to public authorities — bodies owned, controlled, or substantially financed by the government. Whether RTI works against your gas company depends on its ownership. Some city gas distribution companies are government-owned or are joint ventures with significant government holding, which can bring them within RTI; many others are private and are not directly covered. RTI almost always works against the regulator and any government department in the chain. Use it in these situations:

• Against PNGRB (the regulator): The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board is a statutory public authority. You can ask for: the service standards applicable to CGD billing and refunds, the status and any action taken on a grievance you filed, and copies of relevant directions or correspondence with the gas company about your complaint.
• Against a government-owned or substantially financed gas company: If your CGD entity qualifies as a public authority, file with its Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). Ask for the meter reading sheet for your consumer number for the disputed cycles, the meter test report (if any), the policy on estimated billing, and the rules and timeline for security deposit refunds.
• Against the government department in the chain: Where a state body or ministry is involved in approving the gas company or its tariffs, an RTI to the relevant department can surface the governing orders.

To file online where the authority is a central body, see our step-by-step guide to filing an RTI online. The CPIO must respond within 30 days. If you are not answered or are unhappy with the reply, use our guide on filing a first appeal under RTI Section 19, and the broader first and second appeal guide. For deeper strategy on combining RTI with regulator complaints, The RTI Playbook is a useful companion.

When RTI will not help

RTI has clear limits in a PNG dispute:

• Purely private gas companies: If your CGD company is a private firm with no government control or substantial financing, RTI does not apply to it. Your remedy is the company's grievance process, the PNGRB, and the consumer commission — not an RTI to the company.
• RTI cannot correct your bill or refund your deposit: RTI only gets you information. It does not order the company to revise a bill, reconnect supply, or release a deposit. Those outcomes come from the grievance, regulator, or consumer-court routes.
• It is slower than the service route for urgent action: A live disconnection or due-date crunch needs the written complaint and undisputed-payment route now, not a 30-day RTI. Use RTI to build evidence and accountability, not as a stopgap.

For a private deposit dispute that looks more like a tenancy or co-living refund, the consumer logic is the same as in our hostel and PG deposit recovery guide.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Not photographing the meter before complaining: Your single strongest piece of evidence is a dated photo of the meter face. Without it, the dispute becomes your word against the company's reading sheet. Photograph it before you call anyone.
• Refusing to pay the whole bill: Withholding the entire amount, including what you clearly owe, gives the company a clean reason to disconnect. Pay the undisputed amount, withhold only the disputed balance, and say so in writing.
• Complaining only by phone: A verbal complaint with no docket number is almost impossible to escalate. Always get a written complaint or docket number and note the agent's name, date, and time.
• Accepting "we will adjust next cycle" without proof: A verbal promise to adjust is not a corrected bill. Insist on a written revised bill based on an actual reading so the correction is on record.
• Throwing away the security deposit receipt: Keep it for the life of the connection. If it is lost, the deposit is still recorded against your consumer number — ask for a duplicate receipt or a deposit confirmation rather than giving up the refund.
• Surrendering the connection without an acknowledged application: If you just stop using the connection, the deposit refund can stall indefinitely. Submit a written surrender or transfer application, return equipment, clear the final bill, and keep the acknowledgement.
• Skipping the company's grievance ladder: The regulator and consumer commission expect you to have escalated through the company first. Keep a clean paper trail of complaint, escalation to the nodal officer, and only then go to PNGRB or court.
• Assuming RTI applies to every gas company: RTI works against public authorities and the regulator, not necessarily a private CGD firm. Target your RTI at PNGRB or a government-owned entity, and use consumer remedies against private companies.

If your gas bill problem came bundled with a wider utility billing issue, our guide on a wrong electricity meter reading and inflated bill uses the same evidence and escalation discipline.