Railways introduces HSN codes to stem losses from commodity transport

It's a bid to stem losses from misdeclaration of goods

In a first-of-its-kind move, the Ministry of Railways has started using Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) codes for the classification of commodities in freight transportation, Business Standard has learnt.

“Starting this month, we have begun using HSN codes to identify commodities being transported through our network. We have begun this exercise to stop the corrupt practice of misdeclaration of goods in the freight order by private players," said a Railways official in the know.

Earlier, the Railways had its own list of commodities that were ferried through self-declaration. However, many finished goods and raw materials were being wrongly declared. Since,