‘Custom babus steal cigarettes, chocolates…’: How a TN importer’s complaint blew up into a corruption controversy

Social media is abuzz with stories of how entrepreneurs had to pay the customs department thousands and lakhs of rupees to get their goods to be released. The Ministry of Finance’s order to probe the allegations of bribery made by Tamil Nadu-based logistics firm Wintrack Inc against Chennai Customs has led many-a skeletons tumbling from closets. 

After the founder of Wintrack, Prawin Ganeshan, spoke about bribery demands he faced from the customs department, many other entrepreneurs took to social media to share their grievances. 

Among the many instances shared online, a businessman said he had to pay Rs 47,000 to get his consignment released, while another spoke of a book, signed by the author to the recipient, which was not released because they claimed there was a mismatch in the name of the recipient. Another X user said he had to pay Rs 11,000 to release a shipment worth $140 (over Rs 12,000).

Anil Kumar, a social media content creator by the name ‘AnilShipSailor’, who shares videos and posts about his life and experiences as a merchant navy sailor, said no one wants to come to India by ship. He said that port officers ransack the ship’s provision stores, take away bags and bags of coffee, chicken, biscuits and whatever they can land their hands on. They will also take away bagfulls of alcohol, cold-drinks, cigarettes, he said. Kumar said the standing orders remain that whatever the port officials demand the crew should hand it over for fear of retaliation. He said it is not only Indian ships that face it, but perhaps all foreign ships too. 

WINTRACK VS CHENNAI CUSTOMS

According to the ministry, a senior officer from the Department of Revenue has been deputed to conduct a detailed factual probe. Wintrack founder, Prawin Ganeshan, announced on X that it would shut down its India import-export operations from October 1, due to relentless harassment by Chennai Customs officials. He said that his firm faced retaliation after exposing bribery demands by the customs department. 

Chennai Customs said that Wintrack has an “established pattern of making unsubstantiated allegations of corruption and bribery” on social media, which are then deleted after the department issues a rebuttal. It said that the shipment of the company was found misclassified and contained USB charging cables with built-in batteries that required an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) certificate under the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022. It said no bribes were demanded and all the procedures were fully followed.

To this claim, Ganeshan responded by saying that he had personally met an officer to convey his grievance about the bribery demands. “Shipment was released upon total bribe of Rs 2,10,000 for a value of $6993 USD. I know department will cook up some stories to refuse their claim. I have documented evidence with names and money paid,” he said.

Ganeshan, referring to the customs department’s rebuttal, asked how was anyone supposed to sell a massager without a charging cable. “EPR and LMPC compliances were manually requested for the first time, causing delays and demurrages. The law has loopholes, and officers exploit them at their discretion,” he said.