r2i forum

Hi

Recently shipped a 20 feet container full of stuff from USA to Chennai. The container arrived in good shape with no issues and things are cleared without any issues.
The container was discharged on 30th april and we cleared it on 4th may and was delivered in the early hours of 5th may.
After this the local clearing company in chennai is charging us Rs.3600 saying there is a port storage fee of Rs.1200 per day and we need to pay for 3 days. Their way of calculation is : the PORT STORAGE is free for 30th, 1st and 2nd. We need to pay for 3rd, 4th and 5th May. Clearly this is a funny way of calculating the days. The container arrived only on 30th. We were ready to clear immediately but not able to do so because of 1st and 2nd were holidays. The container was not even in port on 5th as it was delivered to us. So in worst case, if this is a genuine fee, we should be charged only for 1 day.
My questions are:
1. What is PORT STORAGE fee and what is the tariff
2. The calculation of days - does it start from the day of discharge ?
3. What is the difference between CONTAINER STORAGE FEE and PORT STORAGE FEE ?
4. Is DEMURRAGE FEE same as PORT STORAGE FEE ?

Please help me with these questions. I have not paid the local company in chennai yet. But they are after me for the Rs.3600. I am trying to work with the US office of the shipping company too.
The amount is no doubt small, but if it is not genuine then I dont want to pay.

Thanks

Given the small amount $75 I would advice to use your time more productively by maybe either paying it in full and starting the process of setting up your home and other things or ask them to take 2000 rs and give a no objection certificate and be done with. I myself dont like paying an extra dollar if its not justified but in your situation i am sure you have other 100 things to take care off versus trying to go back and forth in an attempt to not pay.....you are in India now so dont expect you will get a rule book which defines how calculations etc are done.

Usa2Ind, I agree with oasis138 that payoff this nominal amount as you probably have a million things to take care of in settling down. If you wouldn't mind can you let us know how much you paid for shipping for 20' ft. container and was it door-to-door shipping.

Go ahead & pay the amount. Welcome to India & we dont always go by the book rules :). You can take your arguements to consumer court etc, but not even worth your fuel charge. Its not worth your precious time. You will come across 100s of these things in near future.

Yes. I agree with all the replies. It is a small amount and may not be worth the hassle. But what intrigues me is that they claim it is port storage charges but are giving me a bill on their letter head and it is not a receipt from the port. It may sound as if I am making a big issue for a small amount of money, but I am just trying to find out what these charges are, purely from an academic stand point.

Usa2Ind;286018Yes. I agree with all the replies. It is a small amount and may not be worth the hassle. But what intrigues me is that they claim it is port storage charges but are giving me a bill on their letter head and it is not a receipt from the port. It may sound as if I am making a big issue for a small amount of money, but I am just trying to find out what these charges are, purely from an academic stand point.

I hear ya Usa2Ind. It does pinch to pay an extra dollar when you suspect it could be a rip off. But that is how things work in India. May not be worth refuting.

if it was a genuine charge the agent should be able to give a supporting receipt from the port authority and not a receipt on their letter head. I have not heard of someone asking for reimbursement against of such charges against a letter head. While their stand may be correct (port gives only certain number of free days after ship arrival and charge storage after the 2-3 free days) they should back up their claim by providing proper receipts.

Yes. Thats what I thought too. Thanks for your response. After a few emails back and forth with the india office contact person, I had asked him to provide me the port receipt and after that all emails stopped.

Can you please tell which shipping company used for the relocation to chennai?

It is a good thing you didn't pay the Rs 3k, which would have been siphoned off by the local moving office. Rest assured the customs would never let you leave the dock until all payments are made. They would never let you take the goods home and pay for it later. When you move from the US, you may be taken for a ride by a lot of folks until you wise up. Also please post the name of the local mover so that others know how to deal with them. You should also inform their US offices.