Shipping lines ignore Indian information disclosure requirement

Shipping lines ignore Indian information disclosure requirement Shipping lines and their Indian agencies have so far turned their back on a little publicized stipulation by the Indian Ports Association that service offerings and tariffs from those companies be made public.
   'All the maritime transportation logistics service providers should make available, on a public domain, not only their tariffs but also the detailed cost structure of each tariff item preferably by March 1, 2007 so as to make them transparent,' the Economic Times reported Monday. 'The move was to redress the grievances of the importers, exporters and their agents who were inconvenienced by the non-transparent and autocratic working styles of the liners and their agents.'
   But response from shipping companies has been minimal, the newspaper said, and shippers are taking note.
   'We get about two to three complaints (per day) about these fly-by-night operators, who are not responsible to anybody and are squeezing the trade at will,' R. Radhakrishnan, president of the Bombay Custom House Agents' Association, told the newspaper.
   According to the report, the complaints range from 'carriers non-performance in relation to issue of delivery order, collection of stamp duty on import delivery order, issue of export bill of lading, and the levy of undue charges on import containers like washing charges, damage charges and detention charges.'