Ashish Lath, general secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that there is a provision that requires the installation of an ECTS device in every container.
What you should know
Industrialists and businessmen have opposed the mandatory implementation of ECTS (Electronic Cargo Tracking System) for containers transported by rail in Nepal.
Importers allege that this system has been imposed unnecessarily.
This system has been implemented mandatorily since 2019. ECTS has been made mandatory for containers arriving from third countries at various ports in India, transported by rail to Nepal and then transported back to Indian ports from there.
Ashish Lath, general secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that there is a provision to install an ECTS device in each container. He complained that an ECTS fee of Rs 7,100 was unnecessarily paid on a single container.
Madhav Rajpal, senior vice president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the Nepal government has now finalized preparations to implement this system not only in railways but also in containers brought from India by road. ‘Containers are very safe when transported by rail and each train running on Indian Railways can be tracked separately,’ he said. ‘In such a situation, efforts are being made to make importers and exporters as technology-friendly as possible by installing this system in each container.’
Usually, a railway rack carries a maximum of 90 containers. He said that installing an ECTS device in each container in this way would have no meaning or utility. He says that installing just one ECTS device in the entire railway rack would be sufficient.’
Rajpal says that it is wrong to try to forcefully impose this system on containers transported by road when most importers and exporters have not used it even once in the six years since the system was implemented and are unaware of it.
Rajesh Sharda, a member of the Kolkata-based Nepal Cargo Handling Agents Association (NECHA), says that the ECTS system is of no use to Nepal's import-export trade and its additional burden ultimately falls on the Nepali consumer, so it should be abolished immediately.
Jhakka Prasad Acharya, Consul General of the Nepali Consulate General in Kolkata, said that since this system was jointly implemented by the governments of Nepal and India, the relevant government agencies of both countries will also review it.
