Customers angry at 10 to 12-day delays due to infrastructure improvements in cargo complex
Indian exporters have called on the government to step in to end “image denting” disruptions at Delhi Airport’s cargo complex.
The Federation of Indian Exporter Organizations (FIEO) said exporters were facing “grave problems” in the clearance of their air shipments at Delhi because of construction and renovation work by ground handler Celebi and Delhi International Airport (DIA).
As a result, the FIEO has requested government intervention in the issue as export is “a national cause”.
The FIEO said hundreds of vehicles were queueing in the parking area outside the airport and cargo was taking three to four days just to get inside.
Shipments then wait a further three or four days to be offloaded at the platform area for customs clearance, meaning a 10 to 12-day delay in airlifting.
FIEO VP and Regional Chairman JK Jain said exporters were facing “heat from their customers” who had the impression that there was “always something wrong with our [India’s] systems”.
The FIEO said due to a heavy rush of cargo inside the airport, Celebi had blocked fresh execution of terminal charges until the problem had eased, and new shipments cannot be processed.
Jain pointed out that air shipments were booked usually because delivery to overseas buyers was urgent, and such delays in airlifting export cargo were “not acceptable”.
“If the warehouse is under renovation, alternative arrangements should be made for export clearance of the goods and to avoid delay,” the FIEO said.
Exporters and importers suffered delays of over a week in getting cargo clearance at Bengaluru International Airport, at Bangalore, last year.
Reports suggest some importers were re-routing cargo via Chennai Airport to avoid the extra costs of using Bengaluru, which was struggling to migrate to a new Indian Customs clearance software system.
Technical glitches as well as customs officer shortages were blamed by shippers.
And this time last year, strikes by officials at Delhi International brought air exports to a halt, compounding delays to shipments.
Forwarding sources told IFW the strike involved staff responsible for the security screening of air cargo shipments.
Damian Brett | Mon, 18 Apr 2011, IFW News