Gas company Liquigas will today reduce from €25 to €10 the refundable deposit paid when getting a gas cylinder without returning an empty one.

It said it intended to promote and incentivise the use of LPG in cylinders in particular for such use as water gas heaters.

The €10 deposit is the minimum legal amount requested for each cylinder.

It advised customers to specifically ask for the official Liquigas receipt from the gas distributor adding that “they should not accept any other document issued by the distributor himself”.

Customers must retain the Liquigas receipt in case they would want to return the cylinder to the company and get a refund of the amount indicated on the receipt.

Distributors were obliged by law to issue the proper Liquigas deposit receipt indicating the exact amount paid by the customer, the company said.

As provided by the LPG market regulation, €5 will be refunded in case the customer decides to return the cylinder without any receipt.

The issue of receipts had been a hot potato when, three years ago, Liquigas refused to give full refunds to customers who return their gas cylinders without a receipt, causing market newcomer Easygas to cry foul, arguing that it made it more difficult for customers to switch suppliers.

The Consumer and Competition Department had ruled that Liquigas was justified in employing such a procedure, adding the policy was not introduced or used to kill competition in the door-to-door distribution of gas cylinders.

Liquigas had conceded a refund of €5 to customers who did not have a receipt, something which the consumer department had also noted in its investigation.