Postal dept refuses to clear parcels from UAE
By James Paul | 30 Aug 2002
Kochi:
Around 10,000 parcels in 28 containers from the United
Arab Emirates are lying untouched at Kochi Port for more
than a month, with the consignee, the Indian Postal Service
(IPS), refusing to clear the same. Sources say a dispute
between the Emirates Post and IPS is behind the latters
reluctance to take charge of the consignment.
The parcels have come under a scheme of Emirates Post,
which allows customers to send 35 kg of duty-free items
with a delivery time of four weeks. The parcels usually
arrive by air. After their arrival in India they are received
by the Foreign Post in Kochi.
After customs clearance, IPS distributes the parcels to
the addressees free of cost. But this time the containers
arrived by ship and have been lying with the clearing
agents for over a month. The parcel charges levied by
the Emirates Post itself will come to over Rs 2 crore.
With delay in receiving the consignment, the clearing
agent, Ancheri Agencies, the sources say, is demanding
demurrages to the tune of Rs 7.5 lakh. When contacted,
a spokesman for the clearing agent confirmed that the
containers have been lying with them for over a month
but denied that they had demanded any demurrage for the
containers. The parcels that came till the first week
of June 2002 have been cleared and received by the IPS.
The Foreign Post also confirmed that they have been receiving
complaints in this regard but is helpless because the
order for clearance has to come from the superintendent
of cargo services. Though the nature of the dispute is
not clear, the sources say it is the process of shipment,
by containers, that has caused the current crisis.
Denying that IPS had earlier cleared parcels from the
Emirates Post that were shipped in containers, senior
superintendent T J John says his office has not given
any orders in this regard. I am not aware of the container
process as the parcels usually arrive by air. It could
have been an arrangement reached between the Emirates
Post and the container service. And I am helpless as I
can the order only after receiving orders from IPS.
About
10,000 non-resident Keralites, who are in the state mostly
for the Onam holidays, are running from pillar to post
hoping that the authorities will intervene. Says Girish
Kumar Menon, a Gulf-returnee: Its not clear who will
pay the demurrages. We are not even sure if the parcel
is insured. The authorities here have been issuing contradictory
statements. Service ethics demand that they send the parcels
back.
Despite the month-long crisis, the Emirates Post is still
shipping consignments under the scheme.
