Ministry of Railways reduce freight incentives to boost economy

Ministry of Railways on Thursday announced certain freight incentives to boost the economy. Under this, the levy on Busy Season Charge (BSC) of 15 per cent has been deferred.

"BSC, which is levied at 15 per cent from October 1 till June 30, has been deferred till further advice. The five per cent supplementary charges applicable on loading on mini and two-point rakes are being waived off. This is likely to boost loading of smaller cargo sizes and help cement, steel, food grains and fertilisers loading," stated a press release.

A discount of 25 per cent in haulage charge of containers has been given to encourage the movement of empty and flat to ports; thereby increasing loaded container traffic in return.

"It is expected to enhance price-competitiveness of the railways through other modes of transport and expand freight basket by capturing new traffic," it added.

As per container haulage charging policy, notified commodities are charged at Container Class Rates (CCR), which is 15 per cent lower than General Tariff Rates (GTR). Rest of the commodities are charged at Freight All Kind (FAK) rates, which are even lower than CCR.

Recently, 90 more commodities have been de-notified, which brought down their haulage charge from CCR to FAK rates.

Now, out of a total of 635 commodities in Goods Tariff, only 38 commodities are under notified and CCR rates (11 of these are POL commodities).