Govts move to give more powers to TAMP opposed

The Union Shipping Ministry’s move to give more powers to the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) has been opposed strongly by the Planning Commission. The Commission has strongly objected to the move of undermining the provisions of the model concession agreement in determining the performance standards of major ports and linking tariff to the performance of ports. The Commission said this would lead to ambiguity and disputes.

Besides, the Commission has also objected to real tariffs proposed in the 2013 guidelines for tariff setting at major ports saying that these would either make future projects unviable or significantly reduce the revenue share of Port Trusts. The Union Shipping Ministry came up with new tariff guidelines last month after complaints from various stakeholders that existing tariff regulations were detrimental to growth as there was no level-playing field between major ports and non-major ports, which were outside the purview of TAMP.

The Shipping Ministry’s recent guidelines on tariffs said that Port Trusts would propose a set of performance standards which would be approved by the TAMP for each port. Planning Commission is of the view that under the present dispensation, performance standards and consequent penalties are specified in the model concession agreement (MCA).