MCCI urges reduction of 'dwelling' time at airports

Chennai, Aug 27 (UNI) Madras Chamber of Commerce (MCCI) today expressed concerned over the recent declaration by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to reduce 'dwelling' time at the airports.

The announcement of reducing five to three days for storing and clearing goods was not taken into account of the current practices by the business community, MCCI release here said.

Explaining the reason for concern, MCCI pointed out that it takes atleast one day to deposit the cargo with the custodians.

In case of Indian Airlines, who do not work round the clock, the clearing time will be only possible between 0800 and 2000 hours and as a result of flights arriving after 1900 hrs, the cargo lies idele for 12 to 14 hours.

After depositing the cargo with the airlines,the custodians need to enter data and this feeding operation was also not 24 hrs.

''We therefore strongly recommend that importers be permitted atleast three clear working days from the time cargo is handed over to the custodian after all data is entered'', the release added.

UNI