Tech snag leaves airport customs in a tizzy

A technical snag in the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system at the Customs Department at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport since last week has severely hit import-export business.

A technical snag in the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system at the Customs Department at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport since last week has severely hit import-export business.

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The EDI system broke down after a cable snapped near the Metro construction for the Airport Express Line and the server used by the custom officials to process the shipments broke down.

This has led to a huge pile up of cargo at the warehouses. The computerised system was introduced in 1994.

With almost no in-out cargo movement at the airport, the Air Cargo Agents' Association of India (ACAAI) held a meeting to find a solution.

A worried official of Federation of Freight Forwarders Association of India (FFFAI) said, “On an average 2,000 consignments are sent daily. But more than that, what we are worried about is the loss of goodwill.”

The official didn’t wish to be identified, as he isn't authorised to talk to the media.

In the meantime, as an emergency measure, the authorities shifted to manual clearing at the international cargo terminal on Thursday.

“We are working to improve the system and it would be sorted out soon,” Commissioner (Customs) S.C. Gupta said.

However, sources said, nobody knows when the fault would be rectified.

Because of this it is not just the traders who are suffering the losses, cargo airline operators are also troubled. The annual in-out freight turnover from the Delhi airport is nearly 3.6 lakh tones.