Rental: respite for VPT stevedores

High Court suspends circular seeking provisional collection of revised rental with effect from August 20. The provision states that no sum in excess of the amount specified by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) by notification in the official gazette can be collected.

Cargo being stacked after being unloaded from a ship at the Port in Visakhapatnam. Photo: K.R. Deepak

Stevedores of Visakhapatnam Port will now breathe easy with the High Court of Judicature in Hyderabad for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh suspending a circular issued by the port on implementing hefty increase in rental of godowns and open space for stacking.

Justice P. Naveen Rao’s order on Monday brought cheers among the stevedores, who had approached the court against the circular saying it was against Section 42 (4) of Major Ports Act, 1963.

The provision states that no sum in excess of the amount specified by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) by notification in the official gazette can be collected.

Circular No. 504 issued on August 6 caused consternation among the stevedores, who use the port land for their business. The circular wanted provisional collection of revised rental with effect from August 20 consequent upon Land Policy Guidelines issued for major ports in January 2014.

When contacted, a senior official of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust told The Hindu that they would take action after studying the order.

Writ plea

The writ filed by Visakhapatnam Stevedores Association contended that collection of revised rental at Rs.9.66 per sq. metre per week on the basis of the report of the approved valuer without prior consent of the TAMP and the gazette notification was “illegal, arbitrary, and without jurisdiction.”

The Judge ruled that no sum in excess of the amount specified by the TAMP by notification in the official gazette could be collected.

“The provision is mandatory and binding on the respondents — Visakhapatnam Port,” the order pointed out. The case is posted for hearing after a week.

Welcoming the development, a spokesman for the stevedores association said the valuation was “unrealistic” and almost 10-fold increase in rental would have led to diversion of cargo to other rival ports in the neighbourhood due to their (stevedores) compulsion to pass on the extra burden to their clients.