Concerned about the rampant malpractices in the shipping and allied trade the government is determined to bring in legislation to curtail unfair charges being raised on importers and shippers
With hardly any regulations in place, service providers involved in the import and export trade (EXIM) in India have been having a field day making big bucks by raising dubious and unwarranted charges under one pretext or another. Often for the same service, bills are raised more than once under different heads by shipping companies, or their agents, freight forwarders, et al and importers are being forced to cough up hefty sum. Now the government is in the process of bringing in the Shipping Trade Practices law which will help check such dealings and ensure that exporters, importers and others are not unnecessarily penalized or harassed.
An official from the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India involved in drafting the regulations confirmed, “Since the advent of containerization in the EXIM trade there have been no regulations in place for the consumer to seek fair dealing. All transactions are carried out by way of contract without finalizing considerations in real terms. As the intermediaries in the transportation chain are numerous and unregulated there has been a constant demand by shippers – importers and exporters for regulating the freight forwarders, cargo consolidators, shipping agents and others in the chain of transport to facilitate exports.
“The main grievance of the importers and exporters has been the arbitrary charges raised and also of being over charged in many cases by the service providers. They have also pointed out that shipping lines often come up with newer charges in a non-transparent manner. The nomenclature used is also not homogenous. Presently the authorities do not have any legal instrument under which such practices can be regulated. Hence, we hope to bring in a legal mechanism to put a check on this phenomenon.”
The Shipping Trade Practices which is scheduled to be placed before Parliament soon will make each service provider responsible for the charges he raises once the bill is passed. All service providers will have to operate strictly within this frame work. Tribunals will be established at various important centers of the country vested with authority to ensure smooth movement of the goods and to clear up any cases of delays that are brought to their notice; settle disputes; decide on issues of false expenditure; nonconformity; etc.
The trade does not seem to be very happy with this new law coming in as it will restrict their opportunities of making a quick buck. Worse still are the heavy penalties and even a jail term that is proposed in the draft.