Indian Govt Asks Shipping Lines Not to Charge Detention Charges on Container Imports
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In lieu of the imposition of a complete lockdown in India for a period of 21 days to combat the threat posed by the spread of COVID-19 epidemic, to clear the confusion related to the functioning of the ports, the Government of India clarified that seaports and all its operational organisations are exempted from this lockdown to ensure regular supply of goods in the country, with the Ministry of Home Affairs issuing an addendum to the Guidelines annexed to the said order, last week.
In follow up of the Home Ministry's order, the latest notice issued by the Directorate General Of Shipping, Mumbai on 28th March'20, has notified the shipping lines not to impose any container detention charge on import shipments for the period from 25th March, 2020 to 7th April, 2020 (both days inclusive) over and above free time arrangement that is currently agreed and availed as part of any negotiated contractual terms and are also advised not impose any new or other charge.
The decision for the said one time measure to deal with the present disruptions caused by spread of COVID-19 epidemic came after the news that, some cargo owners had either suspended their operations or were finding it difficult to transport goods & cargo and complete the paperwork, resulting in detention of containers without any fault of their own, while some shipping lines had on their own volition decided to suspend imposition of any container detention charges for a limited period to give relief to the importers.
Thus, for more clarity in this respect and for the smooth functioning of the trade and maintenance of supply chain in the county, the notification was issued. The notification also reiterated that the Government is working towards the smooth functioning of the Ports and its operational organisations, however, due to the already occurred disturbance of the downstream services, some delays in evacuation of goods from the ports have become inevitable.
