Delhi HC bars DIAL from levying demurrage at IGI airport

The HC allowed DIAL to seek necessary guidance from the central govt on issues of commercial viability and losses

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) would be disallowed from levying demurrage fees at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport said the Delhi High Court on Thursday.

The high court was listening to a plea challenging regulation 6(1)(1) of the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations 2009, which prohibits operators from charging rent for confiscated goods.

DIAL had petitioned the court after receiving a communication from the commissioner of customs, while executing a concession agreement with Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India for operation of a cargo terminal at the IGI airport, directing them to waive demurrage charges in accordance with the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) regulations, notified on March 17, 2009.

The airport operator had opposed the regulation in question, by contending that demurrage fees were chargeable under the Airports Authority of India Act 1994 and as such, could not be overridden by regulations subsequently framed under the Customs Act 1962. DIAL had also argued that the notification arbitrarily placed a blanket ban on the charge of demurrage in cases of detention, seizure or confiscation of goods by customs authorities.

Negating the operator’s submissions, the bench of judges Ravindra Bhat and Deepa Sharma upheld the impugned regulation, by stating that the norms were well within the scope of the Customs Act and under the ambit of the CBEC’s decision-making power in this regard.

“Investigation being an integral part of working of the customs department, the consignments detained by customs authorities or other investigating agencies, cannot be cleared during this process. It is with these considerations that the impugned regulation was included in the cargo regulations and it should be viewed in the light of the object with which it has been framed,” said the bench. However, the court allowed DIAL to seek necessary guidance from the central government on issues of commercial viability and losses suffered by them due to the implementation of the regulations.