Hazira Port to collect surplus charges from New CFSs while exempting the existing ones

The new amended advisory released by Adani Hazira Port Limited (AHPL) to CFS operations says that the existing CFSs are exempted from the additional charges and the new and upcoming CFSs are likely to pay the charges to clear their containers. The industry sources share that this is more of a discriminative pricing policy and not a level playing field for all the players.

In the previous advisory that was released in August 2023 it was mentioned that for every 20-foot and 40-foot container controlled by the AHPL, all CFS operators would pay Rs.2500 and Rs.4000 respectively. However, the port faced issues from the existing CFSs regarding these charges and a new amended advisory on 15 September released that exempted the existing CFSs from these charges.

The CFSs that are excused from these charges include Hind Terminal, Seabird and Kribhco – all three of which have been operating their terminals in Hazira for quite some time out of which two new CFSs have obtained Customs Clearance recently.

Now with the amended advisory, various segments of the trade sense that the new additional charges are not in the best interests of the trade and pronounce it as a discriminative pricing as a few CFS operators are not being charged at all, while another section is required to pay these charges.

As industry observers and stakeholders closely observe its effect on the competitiveness of the CFS sector, it remains to be seen how this policy will progress and whether it will go for further modifications in response to industry feedback and concerns.