Unaccompanied Baggage Cargo Clearance at Air Cargo Terminal, Sahar, Mumbai
Steps to clear Unaccompanied Baggage (UB) from Sahar Air Cargo
DISCLAIMER: This is in no way an official site of the Airport Authority of India, and it does not represent any instructions given by them. Further, I am not responsible for any damage that may occur from following these steps. This is only a set of steps that I came across when I cleared my personal effects cargo. Use this information at your own risk.
1. Documents to have with you:
1a. Air Way Bill - 2 copies
1b. Passport of passenger - original
1c. Passport copy of passenger - 2 copies
For clearance of cargo by a delegate on behalf of the passenger
1d. Court notarised Letter of Authority - original
1e. Copy of notarised authority letter - 2 copies
1f. Passport of the delegate - original
1g. Passport copy of the delegate - 2 copies
1h. Medical certificate copy - 2 copies (optional)
2. Get the entry pass: To the left of the air cargo complex is a small building with 3 windows. Go to window 1 and submit 1a, 1c, 1e, 1g and 1h. If you are accompanied by another person, then request them at that time for an entry pass for him/her also. If the cargo consignment is above 50kgs or so, they usually grant entry. They usually do not allow a group of three inside together.
There will be a number of agents who will approach you at this point. They will usually quote between Rs. 500 to Rs. 2000, depending on whether its a personal effects parcel or a commercial shipment, and its size. For a personal effects cargo, you DO NOT need an agent. The information here should be enough. The officers in the customs office are very helpful and will direct you in case of any doubts. Its just a long procedure, so keep your wits and patience and you should have your luggage out in about 3 hours. On our venture, we had an agent called U Naik follow us everywhere, and we couldn't brush him off through the ordeal. We finally parted with Rs. 300. He was helpful in directing us to the right desks, but nothing more.
The clerk at the window retains all the documents and may require to see the originals of the copies. Ensure that you do not submit 1d here since it is needed at the next step.
3. Get the delivery order: Once inside the main cargo complex, keep to the left and ask for the Air Freight or AFL office, which is located next to Canara Bank. You will need to first show 1a to the clerk at window 1 in this passage like office and she will direct you to window 6. The clerk behind window 6 then asks for 1b, 1c, 1d, 1f, 1g, 1h. She retrieves the DO from a filing cabinet to her far left, staples everything together and the papers move to window 5. The clerk here does some data entry, takes a printout and moves the papers to the senior looking clerk at window 4. This person hands you a printed bill which is for Service charges, Cartage, DP Fee and Communication charges. The total we got was Rs. 539.
4. Pay the AFL bill: The AFL bill has to be paid at the State Bank of India (SBI) counter in the Unaccompanied Baggage shed. From the AFL office, it is to the left and just a short sprint away. Once you get the bill paid and stamped from the counter, come back to the AFL office to pick up the delivery order. The DO is a set of red carbon copies of the airway bill. The clerk returns 1b and 1f and keeps the rest.
5. Get the declaration form: After getting the DO, you need to go to the main customs office, which is adjoining the UB shed. The air-conditioned confines give much needed relief. Go to the noting office window in the waiting hall and ask for the declaration form. The clerk takes a look at the DO, charges you Rs. 60 and staples the papers to it and gives you back the bunch.
6. Fill in the declaration form: The well formatted declaration form requires some information from the passports and the air way bill which is straight forward. The main section of the form is for the declaration of the contents of the cargo. Try to be as precise as possible here. The examining officer cross checks each item on this list in step {x}. The agent asked us to enter some non-dutiable items here like used clothes, used towels, used footwear. We took his advise.
7. Get the declaration form scrutinized: Just in front of the noting office window is an unmanned desk and chair. The first drawer of the desk contains a set of stamps and a stamp pad. The agent we were with unhesitatingly used the four stamps on the declaration form one of which, 'Scrutinized', is to be stamped on the top left corner of the DF. The form then has to be taken to some Mr. Jain who will sign the form. In his absence, the form can also be signed by the Baggage Superintendent. Both these people can be found in the officer's block going through the glass doors to the left of the noting office.
8. Submit the declaration form to the noting office: Submit this signed form to the noting office from where it was issued. Then wait. It takes about 15 mins for the clerk to fill in all details of the form. She hands you back a declaration form (DF) printout and asks you to verify and sign in two places.
9. Get the forwarding reference: Once the form is signed, you have to submit it to the clerk in the notice office, sitting to the right of the noting window clerk. This lady will look up the DO and the DF and bring out the list of arrivals. She will then make an entry in her list, circling it with a red pen and making some remark on the DF.
10. Get Examining officer consent: The marked DF and set of papers has to be then taken to an Examining officer on duty. He will go through all the papers and give his consent on proceeding with the examination of the cargo. He will make an endorsement on the back of the DF and hand you back the papers.
11. Get forwarding permission: This step may not be required in general, but it was required by us since we surpassed the 3.30pm deadline for the forwarding order. You have to go to the office on the far left in the waiting hall. A Mr Sharma was the officer in charge. He will ask you a few questions and give you permission, which is another endorsement on the back of the DF. It was 3.55pm when we went to him.
12. Get forwarding order: This set of papers now has to be submitted to counter 7. This is to the right at the entrance to the cargo area. The clerk hands you a set of bill printouts for demurrage charges. They charged me Rs. 625 for the 5 packages and 5 days that the cargo was in their possession. This bill has to be paid at the SBI counter.
13. Get luggage: The paid bill has to be shown to the security guard at the entrance of the cargo area. He forwards some instructions inwards to some porters who will get your luggage from some shed into the examination area. This takes about 15 mins so be patient.
14. Get Examination officer: Once the luggage arrives into the examination area, you can verify that it is in fact your parcel from the AWB. Then you need to go to the examining officer and request him to come to perform the examination. He will want to open all the parcels of the cargo. You need to carry a pen knife to rip open the parcels as fast as you can. He will take a quick look at all the contents, and ask you to empty out anything he finds suspicious. The officer, Mr Vinayak, we had was very nice and the ordeal only lasted about 5 minutes through which he was constantly asking us questions about the parcel, its contents, our background, and other things. I guess that's their way of interviewing you to find anything they would miss from visual inspection. Its a good technique. The officer makes some comments on the DF and walks back to his office leaving behind a mess to clean up.
15. Get the parcels strapped: After the examination, the contents of the parcels have to be stuffed back inside and the parcels need to be strapped. There are people loitering around there who wield strapping machines and tape. They have to be paid Rs. 6 per strap. Counter 7 has a printout which clearly states these people have to be paid Rs. 3 per strap. Oh, well...
16. Go to the examination officer: You then have to go the examination officer to negotiate the duty you have to pay. In our case, we had declared some carpets as contents which is dutiable. He did not find any other contents that were dutiable and so gave us a bill for only Rs. 178. He also talked to the octroi officer in charge and exempt the octroi for us. We paid the duty at the SBI counter.
17: Get some other printout: Things were moving so fast now that it was tough to keep track of everything going on. We submitted the paid duty bill to the superindendant and he entered some data on his terminal and printed out two copies of the clearance certificate (or something).
18. Get the gate pass: The clearance certificate is to be submitted at counter 7 again. The clerk prints out a triplicate copy of the gate pass and hands it back to you.
19. Get gate pass signed by examining officer: You have to go back to the examining officer to get the gate pass endorsed. He does so willingly, smiles back signaling that all is done now and that you can go home with your parcels.
20. Pay octroi: Before you can leave however, the second copy of the gate pass has to be signed by the octroi officer who situated very near the exit. You have to hand over the papers to him and he would make out a bill which you would pay at the SBI counter again. We had to do none of that since the examining officer had already arranged things with the octroi officer. We were given the autograph without any ado.
21. Get luggage loaded: Once you have everything in order, you show the signed gate pass to the security officer at the entrance to the cargo hold. He allow you to go in and get a loader to help you get the parcels out. The loader gets small forklift and hauls the pallet with your parcels outside.
22. Submit gate pass: On the way out, you have to submit the two signed copies of the gate pass and the whole set of documents to the gate officer just right of the exit. He checks things and lets you go easy.
23. Get a vehicle and go home: Now that you're out of the cargo terminal, you're vulnerable to even more touting. The taxi wallahs there quote three times the price, quoting tight restrictions by the airport authorities and high parking fees. Bargaining could get you to twice the normal amount. The loader pesters you for his share and he'll settle for nothing if you try real hard. If instead you get your own car, they charge you some entry fee, like Rs. 50 and let you take your parcels without the taxi premium.
DISCLAIMER: This is in no way an official site of the Airport Authority of India, and it does not represent any instructions given by them. Further, I am not responsible for any damage that may occur from following these steps. This is only a set of steps that I came across when I cleared my personal effects cargo. Use this information at your own risk.
1. Documents to have with you:
1a. Air Way Bill - 2 copies
1b. Passport of passenger - original
1c. Passport copy of passenger - 2 copies
For clearance of cargo by a delegate on behalf of the passenger
1d. Court notarised Letter of Authority - original
1e. Copy of notarised authority letter - 2 copies
1f. Passport of the delegate - original
1g. Passport copy of the delegate - 2 copies
1h. Medical certificate copy - 2 copies (optional)
2. Get the entry pass: To the left of the air cargo complex is a small building with 3 windows. Go to window 1 and submit 1a, 1c, 1e, 1g and 1h. If you are accompanied by another person, then request them at that time for an entry pass for him/her also. If the cargo consignment is above 50kgs or so, they usually grant entry. They usually do not allow a group of three inside together.
There will be a number of agents who will approach you at this point. They will usually quote between Rs. 500 to Rs. 2000, depending on whether its a personal effects parcel or a commercial shipment, and its size. For a personal effects cargo, you DO NOT need an agent. The information here should be enough. The officers in the customs office are very helpful and will direct you in case of any doubts. Its just a long procedure, so keep your wits and patience and you should have your luggage out in about 3 hours. On our venture, we had an agent called U Naik follow us everywhere, and we couldn't brush him off through the ordeal. We finally parted with Rs. 300. He was helpful in directing us to the right desks, but nothing more.
The clerk at the window retains all the documents and may require to see the originals of the copies. Ensure that you do not submit 1d here since it is needed at the next step.
3. Get the delivery order: Once inside the main cargo complex, keep to the left and ask for the Air Freight or AFL office, which is located next to Canara Bank. You will need to first show 1a to the clerk at window 1 in this passage like office and she will direct you to window 6. The clerk behind window 6 then asks for 1b, 1c, 1d, 1f, 1g, 1h. She retrieves the DO from a filing cabinet to her far left, staples everything together and the papers move to window 5. The clerk here does some data entry, takes a printout and moves the papers to the senior looking clerk at window 4. This person hands you a printed bill which is for Service charges, Cartage, DP Fee and Communication charges. The total we got was Rs. 539.
4. Pay the AFL bill: The AFL bill has to be paid at the State Bank of India (SBI) counter in the Unaccompanied Baggage shed. From the AFL office, it is to the left and just a short sprint away. Once you get the bill paid and stamped from the counter, come back to the AFL office to pick up the delivery order. The DO is a set of red carbon copies of the airway bill. The clerk returns 1b and 1f and keeps the rest.
5. Get the declaration form: After getting the DO, you need to go to the main customs office, which is adjoining the UB shed. The air-conditioned confines give much needed relief. Go to the noting office window in the waiting hall and ask for the declaration form. The clerk takes a look at the DO, charges you Rs. 60 and staples the papers to it and gives you back the bunch.
6. Fill in the declaration form: The well formatted declaration form requires some information from the passports and the air way bill which is straight forward. The main section of the form is for the declaration of the contents of the cargo. Try to be as precise as possible here. The examining officer cross checks each item on this list in step {x}. The agent asked us to enter some non-dutiable items here like used clothes, used towels, used footwear. We took his advise.
7. Get the declaration form scrutinized: Just in front of the noting office window is an unmanned desk and chair. The first drawer of the desk contains a set of stamps and a stamp pad. The agent we were with unhesitatingly used the four stamps on the declaration form one of which, 'Scrutinized', is to be stamped on the top left corner of the DF. The form then has to be taken to some Mr. Jain who will sign the form. In his absence, the form can also be signed by the Baggage Superintendent. Both these people can be found in the officer's block going through the glass doors to the left of the noting office.
8. Submit the declaration form to the noting office: Submit this signed form to the noting office from where it was issued. Then wait. It takes about 15 mins for the clerk to fill in all details of the form. She hands you back a declaration form (DF) printout and asks you to verify and sign in two places.
9. Get the forwarding reference: Once the form is signed, you have to submit it to the clerk in the notice office, sitting to the right of the noting window clerk. This lady will look up the DO and the DF and bring out the list of arrivals. She will then make an entry in her list, circling it with a red pen and making some remark on the DF.
10. Get Examining officer consent: The marked DF and set of papers has to be then taken to an Examining officer on duty. He will go through all the papers and give his consent on proceeding with the examination of the cargo. He will make an endorsement on the back of the DF and hand you back the papers.
11. Get forwarding permission: This step may not be required in general, but it was required by us since we surpassed the 3.30pm deadline for the forwarding order. You have to go to the office on the far left in the waiting hall. A Mr Sharma was the officer in charge. He will ask you a few questions and give you permission, which is another endorsement on the back of the DF. It was 3.55pm when we went to him.
12. Get forwarding order: This set of papers now has to be submitted to counter 7. This is to the right at the entrance to the cargo area. The clerk hands you a set of bill printouts for demurrage charges. They charged me Rs. 625 for the 5 packages and 5 days that the cargo was in their possession. This bill has to be paid at the SBI counter.
13. Get luggage: The paid bill has to be shown to the security guard at the entrance of the cargo area. He forwards some instructions inwards to some porters who will get your luggage from some shed into the examination area. This takes about 15 mins so be patient.
14. Get Examination officer: Once the luggage arrives into the examination area, you can verify that it is in fact your parcel from the AWB. Then you need to go to the examining officer and request him to come to perform the examination. He will want to open all the parcels of the cargo. You need to carry a pen knife to rip open the parcels as fast as you can. He will take a quick look at all the contents, and ask you to empty out anything he finds suspicious. The officer, Mr Vinayak, we had was very nice and the ordeal only lasted about 5 minutes through which he was constantly asking us questions about the parcel, its contents, our background, and other things. I guess that's their way of interviewing you to find anything they would miss from visual inspection. Its a good technique. The officer makes some comments on the DF and walks back to his office leaving behind a mess to clean up.
15. Get the parcels strapped: After the examination, the contents of the parcels have to be stuffed back inside and the parcels need to be strapped. There are people loitering around there who wield strapping machines and tape. They have to be paid Rs. 6 per strap. Counter 7 has a printout which clearly states these people have to be paid Rs. 3 per strap. Oh, well...
16. Go to the examination officer: You then have to go the examination officer to negotiate the duty you have to pay. In our case, we had declared some carpets as contents which is dutiable. He did not find any other contents that were dutiable and so gave us a bill for only Rs. 178. He also talked to the octroi officer in charge and exempt the octroi for us. We paid the duty at the SBI counter.
17: Get some other printout: Things were moving so fast now that it was tough to keep track of everything going on. We submitted the paid duty bill to the superindendant and he entered some data on his terminal and printed out two copies of the clearance certificate (or something).
18. Get the gate pass: The clearance certificate is to be submitted at counter 7 again. The clerk prints out a triplicate copy of the gate pass and hands it back to you.
19. Get gate pass signed by examining officer: You have to go back to the examining officer to get the gate pass endorsed. He does so willingly, smiles back signaling that all is done now and that you can go home with your parcels.
20. Pay octroi: Before you can leave however, the second copy of the gate pass has to be signed by the octroi officer who situated very near the exit. You have to hand over the papers to him and he would make out a bill which you would pay at the SBI counter again. We had to do none of that since the examining officer had already arranged things with the octroi officer. We were given the autograph without any ado.
21. Get luggage loaded: Once you have everything in order, you show the signed gate pass to the security officer at the entrance to the cargo hold. He allow you to go in and get a loader to help you get the parcels out. The loader gets small forklift and hauls the pallet with your parcels outside.
22. Submit gate pass: On the way out, you have to submit the two signed copies of the gate pass and the whole set of documents to the gate officer just right of the exit. He checks things and lets you go easy.
23. Get a vehicle and go home: Now that you're out of the cargo terminal, you're vulnerable to even more touting. The taxi wallahs there quote three times the price, quoting tight restrictions by the airport authorities and high parking fees. Bargaining could get you to twice the normal amount. The loader pesters you for his share and he'll settle for nothing if you try real hard. If instead you get your own car, they charge you some entry fee, like Rs. 50 and let you take your parcels without the taxi premium.
posted by Zainul at 10:07 AM
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