Kathmandu, January 7

Traders and freight forwarders have been forced to pay the detention charges levied by shipping liners, container freight stations and Kolkata port through informal channels, as Nepal Rastra Bank does not permit banks to transfer the amount accrued as detention charge through banking channels.

NRB allows banks to transfer a maximum of INR 100,000 as detention charge per consignment to the banks of the related party in India, according to Bhisma Raj Dhungana, executive director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department of NRB.

However, the detention charges accrued caused by delays in release of Nepal-bound cargo from the Kolkata port due to prolonged border blockade have exceeded INR 6 billion, according to Rajan Sharma, president of Nepal Freight Forwarders’ Association.

The port extends grace period of 10 and 20 days to release cargo that is ferried via road and rail, respectively.

Similarly, Indian trucking companies have also raised their fares rampantly with some charging more than double the amount they used to charge during normal times while ferrying goods via road, capitalising on the situation in Nepal.

“Additional costs in trade, like detention charge and fare hike by the truckers, have gone up significantly since the border blockade started,” said Sharma.

According to him, the NRB rules only allow banks to transfer money as per the bill of lading. “However, detention charges levied by the shipping liners are not included in the bill and are only determined when the containers are returned to the Kolkata port.”

NEFFA has said that they have also been compelled to park the containers at private container freight stations due to congestion in the port.

NRB allows importers to transfer the amount required to be paid as detention charge, but only on the recommendation of Consulate General’s Office in Kolkata.

This means that traders and freight forwarders have to get the recommendation from the regulatory body to get the facility.

Once they submit the recommendation with details of the amount accrued due to delay at NRB, the latter permits banks to release the required fund.

Executive Director Dhungana clarified that NRB could not allow banks to release such payments rampantly because there would be a risk of capital flight.

“If we allow banks to release any amount of payment for detention charge, there are chances of traders transferring funds amounting to more than the value of their imports in the name of such fees.”

It is said that traders tend to under-invoice goods and do not provide proper information to the Consulate General of Nepal in Kolkata.

As a result, they are not able to fulfil the requirement of NRB to send the detention charges through formal channel and have been forced to rely on informal channels like hundi and hawala.

According to NEFFA President Sharma, owing to difficulties in sending the detention charges to associations of shipping liners in Kolkata and CFS, importers and freight forwarders have had to face improper treatment.

Hence, the umbrella organisations of the private sector have also requested the government to sort out the problems caused by the blockade by introducing specific policies that would address specific problems.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs circulated a letter to the diplomatic missions based in Kathmandu on Monday to initiate talks with the concerned authorities in their respective countries.

In the letter, the government has asked the mission heads to urge for exemption of accrued detention charges of the concerned shipping liners due to difficult situation along Nepal-India border points for the last four months.