Chennai-based logistics company Wintrack Inc announced that it will halt all import and export operations in India from October 1, citing what it described as "relentless harassment" by Chennai Customs officials. However, Chennai Customs has rejected the charges, calling the company's claims "fake".
"From October 1, 2025, our company will cease import/export activities in India... For the past 45 days, Chennai Customs officials have relentlessly harassed us. After exposing their bribery practices twice this year, they retaliated, effectively crippling our operations and destroying our business in India," the company posted on X.
"This difficult decision comes after repeated and unjustified harassment by officials at Chennai Customs over the past 45 days," the post added.
The company said after it reported alleged bribery demands twice this year, officials retaliated, resulting in its operations in India being “crippled and destroyed".
Chennai Customs denies allegations
Chennai Customs issued a detailed rebuttal, calling Wintrack’s bribery and harassment claims "false", "calculated", and "a deliberate tactic to pressure officials".
"This importer has an established pattern of making unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and bribery on this platform, only to delete such posts once factual rebuttals are provided by this department," the statement read.
The department said Wintrack’s shipment was misclassified and contained undeclared USB charging cables with built-in batteries, which require an extended producer responsibility (EPR) certificate under the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022. Customs claimed the company failed to provide the necessary compliance documents and submitted "legally untenable claims" for exemption.
The department also alleged that Wintrack’s founder, Prawin Ganeshan, threatened them with "media exposure and self-harm" during a meeting on September 30. The department maintained that all actions were legally mandated and procedures were properly followed.
Founder rejects Customs claims
However, Ganeshan rejected Customs’ statement. "I had personally met Group 5 AC Mr PV Sudhakaran in New Customs House, and conveyed grievance that why ridiculous bribe is demanded on a new company and we had no other option to pay and release it to avoid demurrage and losses," he said on X.
Ganeshan claimed the shipment, valued at $6,993, was released after paying ₹2,10,000 as a bribe. "Shipment was released upon total bribe of Rs 2,10,000 for a value of $6993. I know department will cook up some stories to refuse their claim. I have documented evidence with names and money paid," he added.
He further clarified that the shipment was a massager, which naturally includes a charging cable. "How can a factory sell a massager without a charging cable? Customs raised an issue for the first time this year, questioning why charging cables were not declared separately," he said.
Ganeshan also criticised compliance rules as being unclear. "EPR and LMPC compliances were manually requested for the first time, causing delays and demurrages. The law has loopholes, and officers exploit them at their discretion," he said.
Allegations of bribes and harassment
Wintrack accused Chennai Customs of systemic bribery and asked whether officials involved would face action. "Wintrack Inc. will expose on Twitter that another company, owned by my wife, was asked for a ₹2.1 lakh ransom for an import value of ₹6.25 lakh. Let the public calculate the bribe percentage," the company said.
Ganeshan added that thousands of shipments from China were cleared without BIS and other compliances, but only by paying bribes at Indian ports.
Centre gets involved
The Ministry of Finance took cognisance of the matter saying that a senior officer from the Department of Revenue has been deputed to carry out a detailed factual enquiry of allegations made by Wintrack.
"In recent years, the Government has implemented a series of taxpayer-friendly initiatives such as the adoption of the Taxpayer Charter, the introduction of faceless customs procedures, and the establishment of appellate bodies for dispute resolution — with the objective of enhancing transparency and promoting ease of doing business," the ministry said, adding that the Centre is taking the matter with "utmost seriousness" and is "committed to enhancing ease of doing business".
Political reactions
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in a post on X, "This is truly dismaying. Corruption remains rampant across the system and most companies simply comply as part of the 'price of doing business'."
Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai criticised the government, saying: "Madame @nsitharaman this is not acceptable. You have failed to stamp out systemic corruption in our ports. Please stop this. You are our FM and our PM @narendramodi had promised us corruption free rule. You have also failed to stop TAX TERRORISM..."
 "Wintrack Inc")
 "trade, import, export, container, shipping")
 "Kristi Noem")
 "Tarantulas found in germany")
 "auditing, auditing firms auditing companies, audit")
 "Goods and Services Tax, GST")
 "Google")
 "SpiceJet")
 "TCS")
 "Tata motors")
 "Enforcement Directorate")
