The Hindu Business Line : Kanara chamber seeks more powers for port tariff body

THE Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has asked the Shipping Ministry not to dilute the role and functions of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP).

Responding to the reported Government move to make changes in the nature and role of the tariff authority, the KCCI President, Mr G. Giridhar Prabhu, has in a letter to the Minister of Shipping, Mr Vedprakash Goyal, advocated an increase in the powers of the TAMP and sought an expansion in its charter from being a mere tariff regulator.

It has also written to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. L.K. Advani, in this regard.

KCCI's other suggestions include bringing all ports — including ports under the jurisdiction of the State Governments — under a uniform regulatory regimen for a `level playing field' and ensure that no port, corporatised or otherwise, should be excluded from the purview of the authority.

Stating that since its constitution in 1977 the TAMP has evolved into a `fair and just' authority to adjudicate on tariff issues, the chamber said a tariff authority was all the more necessary in a market-oriented economy.

When ports are authorised to set their own tariffs, it becomes imperative to have an independent and free tariff authority to determine whether the tariffs charged are fair according to the economic and social objectives involved in the use of public assets.

The role of a tariff authority, says KCCI, should not be merely to settle grievances but to decide on the appropriateness of a tariff given a set of economic and social factors.

For the past three decades, according to the chamber, port users have suffered due to the `under management' of ports rather than due to tariff-related problems. The Government, it says, should now pay attention to improve management and infrastructure in the country's ports.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Training for Kondapalli toy makers

Help sought to check dumping duty on bed linen exports

Dumping duty proposed on oxo alcohols

From Court to Commission

RBI for ceiling on States' loan guarantees

Soft interest rates right for economy now: Jaswant

Separate PCB office for Vizag SEZ

`S. Asian nations must co-operate more on trade'

MGR Film City to give way to knowledge park

Petrol pump allotment issue rocks Parliament

KPTCL appeals dismissed — Regulator allows Tanir Bhavi to draw dues