The expiry of LPG Cylinder is mentioned on one of the 3 supporting metal strips between body of cylinder and round ring on top. It is painted on inner side as we can see in following picture.

Expiry date contain 1 alphabet between A to D and 2 digit numerical e.g. C.17 in this case. Now how to read this expiry date.

The Alphabet represents month of Expiry & 2 digit numerical is year of expiry. Entire year is divided into 4 quarters as per following table

A = January to March

B = April to June

C = July to September

D = October to December

So in this case, C means expiry month is September. Similarly A means expiry month is March.

Last 2 digit numerical is year of expiry therefore 17 means year of expiry is 2017.

To summarize, C.17 means expiry of cylinder is September, 2017. Though there is always grace period of 3 – 6 months from date of expiry as it takes time to pull cylinder out of circulation. It is important to check the expiry of LPG Cylinder before receiving delivery else you will be compromising on your safety. If you receive cylinder post expiry then you can complain to Regional Manager of your Oil Marketing Company.

One of the loophole is that expiry date of LPG Cylinder is written with paint which can be easily changed. Hopefully it will be metal embossed in future. For better safety, it is always advisable to keep LPG Cylinder outside the house in open area and pull out an aluminum pipe from cylinder to gas burner. Lastly, 2 or more cylinders should not be kept together to avoid any accident.

Hope next time before accepting delivery of LPG Cylinder, you will check the expiry date.