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TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2020 (3) TMI 1067
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....ity of paying terminal handing charges and other charges of the port terminal directly to the terminal operators instead of shifting through the Shipping Lines like the petitioners have been issued by Commissioner of Customs on behalf of Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. 2. All the petitioners are in the business of carrying of a containerized goods whereas 2nd and 3rd are agents/representatives of their Principal and members of the first petitioner Association. The manner in which the petitioners indulging in the business is summarized as under: 3. They are engaged in the business of carriage of containerized cargo by sea ie., from the Port of Discharge or from the Place of Receipt....
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....arges ie., handling etc. Therefore, the petitioner's client is contractually bound to pay the charges to the 1st petitioner's members. The contract of carriage entered into between the Association and the clients also include tariff which includes not only the amount payable to the port /terminal for handling the containers but also other miscellaneous charges and expenses to be levied. The first petitioner's members collect the same from the client along with other charges under the head of Terminal Handling Charges and pays at the time when the goods are dispatched or received. The services provided by the petitioners are enumerated here under. a. Preparation of Vessel arrival report and obtaining certificates and cle....
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....arious authorities for clearance of abandoned containers. 4. The impugned notice dated 3rd February 2020, is not sustainable and issued without taking into consideration the pre-negotiated contracts already entered between the first petitioner's members and clients and without considering that it has no locus and/or authority for payment of the charges. Giving liberty to the consignors and the consignee to pay the handing charges by bypassing shipping lines. In support of the aforementioned contentions, reliance has been laid to a judgment of High Court of Bombay in J.J Polyplast Private Ltd. And Ors. vs. The Ministry of Shipping and Ors. (Writ Petition No.2973 of 2014) whereby one of the importer being aggrieved of such variation in....
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....l handling charges and other charges such as SSR (Special Service Request), Demurrage charges, Reefer Monitoring Charges, Special Handling Charges etc., which are at variance with what the Shipping Lines have paid to the port terminals. This results in lack of transparency in collection of these charges. 3. In order to bring transparency, augment 'Ease of Doing Business' and to reduce the logistics costs, it is decided that the importers having AEO status or DPD facility for containerized cargo may be allowed the facility of paying terminal handling charges and the other charges of the port terminal directly to the terminal operators instead of paying through the Shipping Lines. Therefore, all such eligible importers who ha....
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....cilitation of trade, take such measures or prescribe separate procedure or documentation for a class of importers or exporters or for categories of goods or on the basis of the modes of transport of goods, in order to,- a. maintain transparency in the import and export documentation; or b. expedite clearance or release of goods entered for import or export; or c. reduce the transaction cost of clearance of importing or exporting goods; or d. maintain balance between customs control and facilitation of legitimate trade. 7. On a perusal of the aforementioned provision, the board of the custom is empowered to take measures for the facilitation of trade by prescribing accepted procedures, documentation for....
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....oms or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] empowered in this behalf by the Central Government; c. any power exercisable by a [Joint Commissioner of Customs] under this Act may be exercisable also by an [Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] empowered in this behalf by the Central Govt; d. any power exercisable by an [Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] under this Act may be exercisable also by a Gazetted Officer of Customs empowered in this behalf by the Board. In my view, the petitioners do not have any cause of action in laying challenge to Ext.P1. There was already a written contract between them and the client and obviously the apprehension expressed of dev....