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The ELSC awards were given out during the Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Conclave held in Mumbai.
Drive India Enterprise Solutions Ltd, (DIESL), logistics arm of the TATA group, has won the award for the “Best 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) Company of the Year” at the 4th Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards held in Mumbai on 30th September 2010. The award was received by Ajay Chopra, CEO, DIESL.
The ELSC Awards were given out during the Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Conclave held in Mumbai at Taj Lands End on the 30th of September ’10. The ELSC conclave, now in its 4th year, recognizes and showcases logistic companies and supply chain led businesses that have set new benchmarks in the delivery of logistics solutions.
The winners of the awards are selected by a panel of industry leaders and the eminent members of the advisory council of ELSC. These Awards were decided on the basis of a research conducted by A.C. Nielsen.
Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Chopra, CEO, DIESL said, “We are pleased to receive the award for the ‘Best 3PL Company of the Year’ in the country. The recognition underlines our capabilities to deliver the highest standards of service with a customer-focused approach, through our extensive network and deep penetration across the country powered by a huge investment in technology. This award is dedicated to all the 3500 plus DIESLites who have made DIESL what it is today.”
DIESL (Drive India Enterprise Solutions Ltd.), a Tata group company, jointly owned by Tata Industries and Tata International, is a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions, with over 176 warehouses connecting 4000 towns across India.
DIESL operates more than 4.4 million sq. ft. of warehouse area, covering around 90% of country’s districts and managing over 1.25 million transactions per month. Recently, DIESL roped in TCS for 100-crore technology upgrade. DIESL also recently launched nationwide road-safety training for truck drivers which will cover minimum of 10,000 truck drivers in 2 years.
This award was won amidst stiff competition from leading logistics companies in India like TCI Supply Chain Solutions, AFL Pvt. Ltd., Safexpress Pvt. Ltd., GATI Ltd., DHL Supply Chain, Schenker (I) Ltd. and Agility. This achievement is recognition of DIESL’s efforts towards seamless integrated logistics solutions.
Source: India Infoline
The Associated chamber of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) has suggested introduction of an unified body to develop India’s Logistic Master Plan and integrated road-map for implementation with a view to avoid multiplicity of agencies, both at the Centre and States level, in exercising their powers to regulate the industry – according to a statement released by the chamber. In a note submitted to the government, the chamber has stated that currently the Ports, Shipping and Maritime Logistics (PSML) are highly fragmented and affecting the growth to the extent of 2% of the GDP on account of logistics and transportation bottlenecks.
Stressing the need for economic, speedy safe and seamless flow of goods, the chamber President, Dr. Swati Piramal said, “Logistics cost in India is over 13% of its GDP making India uncompetitive at the international markets due to under-developed trade and poor logistics of the country.”
The chamber stated that about 90% of export-import cargo of the country, including that of its strategic cargoes is carried by foreign flag vessels. This puts the country in a precarious situation as bulk of our essential supplies like oil is carried on foreign flag vessels. This is a vulnerable position as there exists scope for leaving India’s strategic supplies at the risk of an abrupt stoppage in case of any eventuality.
Containerization of cargo requires efficient dry ports and multimodal transport for higher level of service at reduced costs. In India, at present, the prevalence of complicated, lengthy and cumbersome customs procedures are resulting in higher transaction costs. Additionally, practices like detention of goods trains at terminals due to various reasons such as rake formation, availability of locomotives, crew availability and train examination has been detrimental to foreign trade in India. The country is required to focus on this issue.
It has been observed that a variety of industries ranging from warehousing to power plants, steel mills, ship yards, chemical are being developed in the port back areas. Therefore, land acquisition and development of the available land have become most critical components of development of ports and shipping.
Referring the issue of distinction between major and non-major ports, the chamber note says “while the ports designated as the major ports come under the purview of Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP), non major ports are not covered by TAMP. In view of the increased integration of constituents of PSML, a comprehensive policy needs to be formulated. Major policies drafted for the development of the sector are not only partial in coverage but also have got inconsistent objectives.
Globally there has been a growing trend in the port sector towards separation of port authority from port operator. This aspect need to be considered for meeting the demands of shipping and international trade. Port authority is increasingly getting focused on policy and regulatory role while a range of private port operators and port service providers are taking over a range of port related services. In contrast to the major ports, management of many of the minor ports like the ones developed on the Gujarat coast in India has taken care of this issue.
Assocham has further advocated addressing the host of taxes impending the growth of the industry. It says the number of services covered by service tax has gone up from 76 to 107, taking the effective service tax rate for the shipping business from 8 to 12.36%. The shipping companies have to pay service tax at the rate of 12.36% on various services rendered to them such as cargo handling, clearing and forwarding, general insurance, clearing and forwarding agent service, port services, repair and maintenance, steamer agents, storage and warehousing, survey, manpower recruitment and professional services.
Source: Construction Week
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has prescribed more rigorous processes for imports and exports through couriers. The new requirements follow new regulations to enable electronic filing and processing of Customs declarations by couriers and consequential changes made in the regulations for clearance of courier consignments by filing manual bills of entry/shipping bill.
The couriers have to now furnish a security of Rs 10 lakh for clearance through major international airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai and Rs 5 lakh at other airports. Their net worth or financial viability requirement has also been raised to a minimum Rs 25 lakh worth of assets.
After a transition period of six months, the couriers can file declarations before Customs, for clearance of imported or export goods, only through a person who has passed the examination referred to in Regulation 8 or Regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004, and who is duly authorised under Section 146 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The couriers have to verify the antecedents, identity and functioning of their clients in the address by using independent and authentic documents, data and information. This is to guard against offences such as fraud and duty evasion by bogus IEC holders etc. The ‘Know Your Customer’ guidelines applicable for Customs House Agents will equally apply for couriers.
The couriers cannot outsource or sub-let any of the processes in the door-to-door supply chain to any agency without prior permission of the Customs. For consignments of up to Rs 10,000 in value, the couriers have to obtain necessary authorisation from their clients at the time of delivery of the goods, or earlier. For higher value consignments, they have to get the authorisations at the time of import. For consignments beyond Rs 1 lakh, a normal bill of entry will have to be filed.
The couriers have to put in place verifiable and secure work processes on a global basis backed by an elaborate information technology infrastructure for knowledge and information management. They must have their own in-house mechanism to guard against the use of express supply chain by unscrupulous elements.
CBEC has also given some relaxations for couriers. Transhipment of cargo imported through couriers to another Customs station or transfer of cargo from one Customs area to another within the same Customs station will be allowed. In case of breakdown of computer systems or other unforeseen circumstances, they can file a manual bill of entry and seek quick clearance of consignments. The shipments of export-oriented units have been allowed as the necessary module has been developed under the automated electronic system but the data requirements have been enhanced.
For testing any goods imported by couriers, the Customs have been allowed to send samples to any government-approved laboratory and get the reports quickly. Till the Export Manifest Module is developed under the EDI, the existing procedure being followed in respect of courier regulations for manual mode will continue. The examination norms for export cargo through couriers will be the same as for export through other modes. Couriers already having authorisations from Customs can file electronic declarations without the need for fresh appointment or fresh intimation.
The essence of courier service is speed. The latest CBEC instructions strike a fair balance between need for expediency and safeguards to ensure compliance.
Source: TNC Rajagopalan
The Department of Post is in the process of drafting a new regulation for the postal sector.
This is a necessity since the present act regulating the sector – the Indian Post Office Act 1898 – is outdated.
In fact, the earlier attempt to make an amendment to the Act of 1898 received significant criticism from the courier companies, various ministries and industry associations.
Private companies opposed various provisions of the amendment including use of a weight and price multiple to define a reserved area for India Post in letter and express mail services segments, asking larger companies to contribute to USO funding, proposing a roll-back of the FDI from 100% to 49% and suggesting a regulator for this sector.
While many of these issues are likely to be better addressed in the new regulation the need and the role of the regulator is still a bone of contention.
Over the past few months, ICRIER has been conducting a survey on the express delivery services (EDS)/courier industry to understand the need of a regulator for the industry.
The core issues discussed in the survey include whether the highly competitive EDS/courier industry, with no entry or exit barriers and multiple operators (more than 2500 companies) actually need a regulator.
And, if at all there is a need for the regulator then who should be the regulator and what should be its role and responsibilities.
In India, there is no common view across different segments of the courier/express industry and their clients on regulatory issues. Large express/courier companies felt that EDS should be outside the scope of regulator.
Around 59 per cent of clients did not disagree with the suggestion that government should impose some form of registration/licensing requirement to put a check on fly-by-night service providers.
Smaller courier companies also felt that some form of registration from an independent organisation will provide them security and credibility. However, they differed as to who should be the registering organisation – should it be a central courier association, regional associations, or should they register with an independent regulator?
Most of those who support the proposal for registration argued that it should be one-time registration based on the payment of a nominal fee and should be valid for life-long.
If it is life-long registration then it is difficult to monitor service quality. For ensuring service quality, there should be some basic standards which all companies have to follow and a periodic monitoring mechanism should be in place to ensure that companies compile with that standard.
Such periodic monitoring also entails costs since the number of courier companies is much large.
Moreover, since the courier industry/sector constitute of a large number of small, family-based unorganised companies spread across India, it is difficult to monitor them unlike companies in sectors like telecommunications where there are only a few large corporates.
Overall, the survey found that the cost of registration and monitoring is likely to be higher for smaller companies than larger companies since smaller companies are more localised, they do not have large administrative departments, and/or a mechanised system of regular collection of data/information.
These companies are already operating with tight margins and may have to wind up their operations. Since they are more labour-intensive it can adversely impact employment.
Other arguments from supporters of regulator includes anti-competitive practices, address of consumer grievance, access to network, etc.
The anticompetitive practices can be addressed by the Competition Act. Consumer forums can address consumer grievances and in a sector like courier, consumers have a wide range of choice of service providers. If the service provider does not provide quality services, then customer can easily change service provider and there is no cost associated with such a change.
Tie-ups and strategic alliances are crucial among courier/EDS service providers but, unlike telecommunications, there is no scarce resource which acts as an entry barrier and which can be monopolised.
Thus, the argument for a regulator is weak in case of EDS/courier services.
In this context, it is worth mentioning that the Planning Commission in its draft Regulatory Reforms Bill has proposed a regulator for Post (and not for courier) when the postal sector is liberalised. This is necessary since basic postal services are treated as a “public good” – which has to be made accessible to all and reasonable prices.
In fact, the regulators in most countries have come up with privatisation of the postal sector to regulate any malpractices from the dominant incumbent national postal organisation.
In most countries, EDS is outside the regime of postal regulator. The regulator has to be independent since Department of Posts also has similar express services (Speed Post) like private operators and hence has a vested interest in this sector.
Lastly, while in India some officials seem to want a regulator for each sector, the regulatory experiences have been mixed. The requirement for setting up of an additional infrastructure which entails costs will also have to be justified.
Allocations of all scarce resources do not need a regulator. If competition fails then regulator is justified. So far none of the private courier/EDS companies have raised such concerns.
So, the question is whether there is really is a need to bring a highly competitive EDS/courier sector under the regime of the regulator?
(The views expressed are those of the writers-Arpita Mukherjee (Professor, ICRIER), Ramneet Goswami (Researcher, ICRIER) and Parthapratim Pal (Associate Professor, IIM (Calcutta))
Source: India Blooms News Service