The Hindu Business Line : Rlys introduces telescopic haulage charges for Concor

COME September 15, customers transporting containers through the state-owned Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) may be charged telescopic rates as against the existing flat rates. This would mean that customers will be charged according to the distance - the longer the distance, the lower the rates and vice-versa.

For the first time, the Railway Ministry has introduced the telescopic cost structure for Concor in a bid to rationalise the annual haulage charges levied from the state-owned rail mover of containers. The haulage charges fixed by the Railway Ministry for carriage of containers by Concor become the base rate on which Concor adds its own costs to arrive at a tariff for its customers. During 2003-04, Concor had paid Rs 912 crore as freight charges to Indian Railways for hauling containers by using its infrastructure such as tracks and signalling systems.

Concor is currently working out a rate structure for its tariff on the basis of the haulage charges fixed by the Ministry. The new rates will come into force from September 15.

As per the new haulage charges fixed by the Railways, Concor will have to pay freight for the maximum capacity on a full train/rake even if it loads less. For instance, currently, if a train had a capacity to carry 45 wagons (with each wagon having a capacity to carry 2 twenty-foot equivalent units) and only 30 were being used, Concor was charged for 30 wagons or 60 TEUs. Henceforth, Concor will be charged for the entire 45 wagons or 90 TEUs.

"In order to rationalise the haulage charges levied from Concor, we have introduced the telescopic tariff structure from this fiscal," a Government official said. Indian Railways has already adopted the telescopic tariff system for its passenger and goods services.

Instead of the existing system of levying a flat rate on a per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) per kilometre basis, the new haulage charges will be different for different distance slabs. The haulage charges per TEU per km will decrease with increase in total distance. Thus, on a per km basis, it would benefit customers who transport containers for longer distances, he explained.

The decision to levy haulage charges from Concor on the maximum capacity on full train/rake is aimed at maximising the usage of available capacity. "In the past, the Railways had to bear the cost of under-utilised capacity. We are trying to induce maximise usage of available capacity," the official said.

So far, there were no charges for moving flat wagons or wagons without containers. "This was an issue on which audit had raised objections since moving empty wagons also involves a cost for the Railways. From now on, there will be charges for moving wagons without containers," he added.