TIRUCHI: The delay in starting the much awaited international courier operations at the Tiruchi international airport is causing concern to shippers and other stakeholders.
Although several months have passed since the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had approved new posts for the launch of the facility at Tiruchi airport and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) remitting the cost recovery charges to Customs, nevertheless international courier service is yet to take off.
Airport sources say a local notification was yet to be issued by the Customs authorities in Tiruchi to pave the way for the launch of international courier service at the fast growing Tiruchi airport.
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The inordinate delay in launching the new facility prompted the Airports Authority of India and the export community in bringing this issue to the notice of the Customs authorities in Tiruchi.
The sources said the Customs authorities in Tiruchi had recently conveyed to the Tiruchi airport authorities that EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) connectivity at the Tiruchi Air Cargo Complex could not be provided at present due to capacity constraints.
The Directorate General of Systems and Data Management, New Delhi was upgrading the IT infrastructure and hence it would take another three months for up gradation of the Data Centre.
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Hence, EDI connectivity could be provided thereafter. As soon as EDI connectivity was provided, courier terminal would be made operational, the Customs authorities had said in the communication.
However, the Express Courier Operators Association which had been steadfastly working for the launch of the international courier service at Tiruchi airport has claimed that EDI facility for courier terminal was not in place at any customs port in the country.
In a memorandum to the Commissioner of Customs, Tiruchi, the association president S.A. Sayeed said Chennai and Delhi Customs Airport had no EDI facility for international courier operations. Manual Courier Shipping Bill and Manual Courier Bill of Entry were in place at present, Mr. Sayeed further said.
The association has urged the Tiruchi Customs authorities to start international courier service at Tiruchi airport by issuing a local notification at the earliest.
“We have appealed to the Customs authorities to consider at least allowing exports through international courier provisionally as was the case in general cargo being dispatched to various foreign destinations”, said Mr. Sayeed.
The CBEC had sanctioned in June over 30 posts on “cost recovery basis” for providing international courier service at Tiruchi airport which has been witnessing an upswing in export of general cargo to several overseas destinations.
Consequently, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) paid the cost recovery charges amounting to Rs. 9 lakh to the Customs authorities here over two months ago to pave the way for the launch of the courier service.
However, the service was yet to be launched pending issue of a local notification from the Customs authorities in Tiruchi, say airport sources.
AAI officials say necessary infrastructure including x-ray machine required for the start of the courier service had been readied at the Tiruchi airport. A formal notification from the Customs authorities was awaited, the officials said.
Exporters say in the absence of international courier service at Tiruchi, shipments were being routed through Chennai and Bengaluru.
The launch of the service would also enable textile exporters in Karur and Tirupur to dispatch their samples abroad through international courier which would bolster revenue to the airport, say the exporters.