TNT EXPRESS
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF DOMESTIC CARRIAGE AND OTHER SERVICES
SHORT FORM VERSION (01 -10)
This is a contract between TNT India Private Limited and the consignor or consignee, as the case may be. The terms and conditions of this docket / consignment note contract have been abridged to fit the available space, from our Standard Terms and Conditions of Domestic Carriage long form version which is available with any of our Customer Services Centres which shall be considered the full version of the contract between you and us. The terms and conditions herein are in addition to and are in supercession of as the case may be, of any service level agreements, transportation agreements, special contracts, or any other agreements or arrangements between TNT India Private Limited and the Consignor or the consignee as the case may be.
In the event there is a conflict between the terms and conditions specified herein and the provisions of any other document executed between the parties hereto, the terms and conditions specified herein would prevail.
1. Definitions:
The following definitions apply to the terms and conditions set out below that govern this contract of Carriage between you and us.
1.1 "We", "us", "our", "Carrier", “TNT” shall refer to TNT India Private Limited, its employees, authorised agents and its independent contractors and the entities that carry or undertake to carry the consignment hereunder or perform any other services incidental thereto on its behalf.
1.2 “You”, “your”, “consignor”, “Shipper” shall refer to the sender, consignor or consignee of the Consignment, holder of this Consignment Note, receiver and owner of the contents of the Consignment or any other party having a legal interest in those contents, as the case may be;
1.3 "Carriage" means and includes the whole of the operations and services undertaken by us in connection with the Consignment;
1.4 "Consignment" means any envelope, document, package, parcel, satchel, shipment or freight which is or are given to and accepted by us for carriage under our Consignment Note.
1.5 “Dangerous Goods” means goods classified as dangerous as per ICAO T.I., IATA DGR, IMDG-Code, ADR or other national regulations for transport;
1.6 “Delivery” means the tender of the consignment to the consignee or intimation about the arrival of the consignment.
1.7 "Prohibited Items" means any goods or materials, the Carriage of which is prohibited by any law, rule or regulation of India.
1.8 “Receiver” or “Consignee” shall refer to the recipient or addressee or the consignee of the Consignment;
2. YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
By giving us your shipment you accept our terms and conditions set out in the consignment note and/or the contract of carriage and/or the contract for the performance of other services on behalf of yourself and/or anyone else who has an interest in the shipment or the performance of other services irrespective of whether you have signed the front of our consignment note or not. Our terms and conditions also cover and can be invoked by anyone we use or sub-contract to collect, transport, deliver your shipment or perform other services as well as our employees, directors and agents. Only one of our authorised officers may agree to a variation of these terms and conditions in writing. When you give us the shipment with oral or written instructions that conflict with our terms and conditions we shall not be bound by such instructions.
3. DANGEROUS GOODS / SECURITY
3.1 Dangerous Goods
a) Except in the circumstances shown in paragraph 5.1 (b) below we do not carry, nor perform other services regarding, goods which are in our sole opinion Dangerous Goods including, but not limited to, those specified in the regulations, guidelines, technical instructions, codes applicable to us and our business or to the transport of, or the performance of other services regarding, Dangerous Goods.
b) We may at our discretion accept some Dangerous Goods for carriage, or for the performance of other services, in some locations if you have been accorded the status of an approved customer and this must be given by us in writing before your shipment can be accepted. Your Dangerous Goods will only be accepted if they comply with the applicable regulations and our requirements. Details of our requirements together with the procedure for applying for approved customer status are available from our nearest office and a dangerous goods surcharge will be invoiced to you upon acceptance of your shipment.
3.2 Air Cargo Security Regulations
a) You must ensure and you hereby certify by completing our consignment note or tendering a shipment to us that your shipment does not contain a prohibited article as specified in any national or international regulations that govern aviation security. You must give us a full description of the contents of the shipment on the consignment note, or other accompanying document, and your responsibilities and liabilities are not extinguished by providing this information. Shipments carried, or handled, by us may be subject to security screening which could include the use of X-ray equipment and you accept that your shipment may be opened and the contents of your shipment may be examined in transit.
b) You declare that you have prepared the shipment for carriage, or for the performance by us of other services, in secure premises using reliable staff employed by you and that the shipment has been safeguarded against unauthorised interference during preparation, storage and transportation immediately prior to acceptance for carriage of the shipment by us or for the performance by us of other services.
3.3 Prohibited Items
We do not accept shipments that contain prohibited items.
3.4 We accept shipments only upon your declaration of the type and value of the shipment (“said to contain” basis). We have no responsibility whatsoever as to the correctness of description, type or value thereof and you agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any claims that may be brought against us arising out of or relating to such declaration provided by you and any costs we will incur relating thereto.
4. OCTROI, ENTRY TAX AND OTHER STATUTORY CLEARANCE
4.1 You hereby appoint us as your agent solely for the purpose of clearing the consignment with the applicable governmental authorities for the purpose of Octroi, entry tax and such other applicable statutory clearances and you hereby certify that we are the consignee for the purpose of designating an agent to perform the requisite clearances and entries if we subcontract this work. You hereby specifically authorise us to sign such documents as required on your behalf. If any governmental authority requires additional documentation for the purpose of confirming our status as your agent it is your responsibility to provide the required documentation at your expense.
4.2 You certify that all statements and information you provide relating to the transportation of the shipment will be true and correct. You acknowledge that in the event that you make untrue or fraudulent statements about the shipment or any of its contents you risk a civil claim and/or criminal prosecution the penalties for which include forfeiture and sale of your shipment. To the extent that we may voluntarily assist you in completing the required customs and other formalities such assistance will be rendered at your sole risk. You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any claims that may be brought against us arising from the information you provide to us and any costs we will incur regarding this, and pay any administration fee we may charge you for providing the services described in this condition.
4.3 Any charges including penalties relating to Octroi, entry tax, storage charges, demurrage or other expenses we incur we incur as a result of the actions of customs or other governmental authorities or your failure and/or the receiver's failure to provide proper documentation and/or to obtain the required licence or permit will be charged to you or the receiver of the shipment. In the event that we decide to charge the receiver and the receiver refuses to pay the incurred charges you agree to pay them to us together with our fee for the administration involved as well as any extra costs we will incur. Upon our first request you will provide a proper guarantee for any of the duties, taxes, penalties, storage charges or any other expenses set out in this condition.
4.4 We will endeavour to expedite all Octroi, entry tax and other tax and statutory clearance formalities for your Consignment but are not liable for any delays, losses or damage caused by interference from the relevant governmental authorities.
5. YOUR OBLIGATIONS
5.1 You warrant, undertake and guarantee to us:
§ the contents of the shipment (including but not limited to weight and number of items) have been properly described on our consignment note and that the Consignment Note is complete in all respects and the documents as required for the transhipment including invoice, permits are enclosed with the Consignment Note;
§ that the contents of the Consignment and the consignee’s full address including the postal code and telephone number has been accurately and legibly completed on an address label securely fixed by you to a prominent position on the outer surface of the shipment that can be clearly seen by us
§ that the contents have been packed safely and carefully to protect them against the ordinary risks of transport or the performance by us of other services, including any associated sortation and/or handling process;
§ that you have prepared the Consignment in secure premises, by reliable staff employed by you, and that the Consignment has been protected against unauthorised interference during preparation, storage and transportation immediately prior to hand over to us.
§ that the contents of the Consignment are not Prohibited Items and/or are not restricted by the applicable regulations and that you will supply to us any Dangerous Goods declaration that is needed, properly and accurately in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations and neither you nor the consignee is a person or organisation with whom we or you may not legally trade under any applicable laws or regulations;
§ that all statements and information and documents provided by you relating to the Consignment will be true and correct and you acknowledge that in the event that you make untrue or fraudulent statement about the Consignment or any of its contents, you would risk a civil claim and/or criminal prosecution the penalties for which may include forfeiture and sale. You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any claims that may be brought against us or our agents arising from the information provided by you.
§ that you shall be due and payable to us the charges as agreed irrespective of the non-delivery of the Consignment due to non-payment by you of the applicable duty/ levy.
§ that you shall pay demurrage per day at the rate of Rs.1/- per kilogram weight of the consignment per day or Rs.250/- per day whichever is higher in the event the Consignment is required to be collected from our warehouse at the destination and the consignee has not collected the same within 2 days of attempted delivery by us or intimation by us of the arrival of the Consignment, whichever is earlier.
§ We are authorised to deliver the goods at the address mentioned on the Consignment Note and without prejudice to the foregoing it is expressly agreed that we shall be conclusively presumed to have delivered the goods in accordance with this contract if we obtain from any person a receipt or signed delivery docket for the goods at the said address.
§ you have declared the correct weight of the shipment and you will provide any special equipment we may need to load or unload the shipment on or off our vehicles;
§ you have securely fixed a heavy weight label in a prominent position on the outer surface of the shipment that can clearly be seen by us for any item weighing 30 kilos or more;
§ when you have asked us to charge the receiver or a third party and the receiver or third party does not pay us you will promptly settle our invoice together with an administration fee in full within 7 days of us sending you the invoice;
§ all applicable laws and regulations have been complied with by you;
5.2 You agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any liabilities we may suffer or any costs, damages or expenses, including legal costs, we incur either to you or to anyone else arising out of you being in breach of any of these warranties, representations and guarantees, even if we inadvertently accept a shipment that contravenes any of your obligations.
6. CALCULATION OF TRANSIT TIMES AND ROUTING OF SHIPMENTS
Weekend days, public holidays and bank holidays together with delays caused by customs or other events beyond our control are not included when we quote door to door delivery times in our published literature. The route and the method by which we transport your shipment shall be at our sole discretion.
7. UNDELIVERABLE AND REJECTED SHIPMENTS
Where we are unable to complete the delivery of a shipment we will try to leave a notice at the receiver’s address stating that delivery has been attempted and the whereabouts of the shipment. If delivery has not been made after one more attempt by us or the receiver refuses to accept delivery we will try to contact you and agree the appropriate next action. You agree to pay us any costs we incur in forwarding, disposing of or returning the shipment and our charges (if any) for making a third or more delivery attempt and for the agreed appropriate next action. If we do not receive your instructions within 30 days after our second attempt to deliver the shipment, then you agree that we may destroy or sell the content of the shipment without any further liability to you.
8. EXTENT OF OUR LIABILITY
8.1 Subject to condition 13 below, our liability for any reason whatsoever from carriage or other services provided to you including without limitation for loss, damage, delay, mis-delivery or non-delivery of your shipment or any part thereof, for breach of contract, negligence, wilful act or default, is limited to:
(i) Rs.100/- per consignment, where the consignment is declared as having “No Commercial Value” on the consignment note.
(ii) Rs. 1000/- per consignment, or the value as declared on the Consignment Note whichever is lesser, for document consignments.
(iii) Rs. 5000/- per consignment, or the value as declared on the Consignment Note whichever is lesser, for non-document consignments.
(iv) In the case of delay where you can show to us that you have suffered losses, our liability is limited to refunding to you the charge you paid us for carriage in respect of that shipment or the part which was delayed or the amount specified above, whichever is lower.
8.2 Subject to condition 13 below, if we have a liability relating to other services for whatever reason, including without limitation breach of contract, negligence, wilful act or default, our liability to you is at all times limited to Rs.5000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) per event or series of events with one and the same cause of damage or, in case of the loss of or damage to a shipment, to the lower of the market value of the shipment or the cost of repairing the shipment or the part affected with in every case an upper limit that does not exceed Rs.5000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) per event or series of connected events.
8.3 By signing this document, you have expressly and mutually agreed for the limit of our liability specified above and for the purposes of Carriage by Road Act, the limits set forth above shall be deemed to have been mutually agreed between us having regard to the value, freight and nature of goods, documents or articles and you agree not to claim any amount beyond the maximum limit stipulated hereinabove.
9. EXCLUSIONS
9.1 We will not be liable for any loss of income, loss of profits, loss of markets, loss of reputation, loss of customers, loss of use, loss of an opportunity even if we had knowledge that such damages or loss might arise or for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages or loss howsoever arising including without limitation breach of contract, negligence, willful act or default.
9.2 We are not liable if we do not fulfil any obligations towards you at all as a result of:
a) circumstances beyond our control such as (but not limited to):
- acts of god including earthquakes, cyclones, storms, flooding, fire, disease, fog, snow or frost or other natural calamities or disasters;
- force majeure including (but not limited to) war, accidents, acts of public enemies, strikes, embargoes, perils of the air, local disputes or civil commotions;
- national or local disruptions in air or ground transportation networks and mechanical problems to modes of transport or machinery;
- latent defects or inherent vice in the contents of the shipment;
- criminal acts of third parties such as theft and arson.
b) your acts or omissions or those of third parties such as:
- you being in breach of (or any other party claiming an interest in the shipment causing you to breach) your obligations under these terms and conditions and in particular those warranties set out in condition 11;
- an act or omission of any customs, airline, airport or government official.
c) The contents of the shipment consisting of any article that is a prohibited item even though we may have accepted the shipment by mistake.
9.3 We are not a common carrier and do not accept from you any liabilities of a common carrier. Under normal circumstances we do not accept shipments sent to and from residential addresses.
10. INSURANCE AND FREIGHT ON VALUE CHARGES
10.1 Due to the risk or damage to the contents of the Consignments we advise you to purchase insurance cover for the full value of the Consignment.
10.2 We shall at your request issue certificate of loss / certificate of damage in respect of consignment insured in the event of loss or damage to the consignment. You agree and confirm that the issue of such certificate does not confirm or amount to acceptance or admission of claim by us.
10.3 For the issuance of certificates as above, all Consignments will attract freight on value charges as specified by us.
11. ENHANCED LIABILITY
11.1 You may, against payment of the indicated charge, make a declaration on the Consignment Note, of the value of the non-document shipment and seek to increase our limit of liability for loss or damage to your Consignment to the amount equivalent to the value of the consignment as declared by you on the facing sheet of the Consignment Note or Rs.2,00,000/- per Consignment whichever is less (“Enhanced Liability”). The Declaration must be made by you by completing the relevant box on the Consignment Note and paying the indicated charge. Compensation for proved loss or damage to your shipment may be claimed upto the Enhanced Liability. Enhanced Liability is not available for precious stones, precious metals, laptop computers, plasma screens, jewellery, money, glass, china, objects of art, antiques, documents or any films, tapes, discs, memory cards or any such other data or image carrying goods(to include fragile items also). If you do send such goods we recommend that you arrange insurance.
11.2 You may opt for Enhanced Liability for the reconstruction, reproducing, reissuing or re-printing cost (including the costs of the materials (e.g. paper) plus reasonable labor costs) of your document shipment by completing the relevant box on the Consignment Note and paying the indicated charge. Compensation for proved loss or damage to your document shipment may be claimed up to Rs.10,000/- per shipment. This Enhanced Liability option is only available for certain documents as per the list available with our Customer Service Center.
11.3 The above Enhanced Liability options (16.1 and 16.2) do not apply or provide compensation:
For losses of a consequential nature, as per Clause 13.1 above.
For delays in Carriage
For losses that have arisen as a result of your breach of your obligations under these terms and conditions,
For Carriage of shipments to certain locations. For a list of these locations and/or to obtain further details on the conditions of Enhanced Liability, please contact our customer service center.
Where our liability is otherwise excluded as set out in these terms and conditions.
Where you fail to elect to purchase the enhanced liability.
You fail to pay us our charge for the enhanced liability.
12. CLAIMS PROCEDURE
If you wish to claim for a lost, damaged or delayed Consignment you must comply with the following procedure otherwise we reserve the right to reject your claim:
You must notify us in writing about the loss, damage or delay within 7 days after delivery of the Consignment or within 7 days of the date the Consignment should have been delivered and then within the next 14 days document the claim by sending us all relevant information about the Consignment and the loss, damage or delay suffered. We are not obligated to act on any claim until our transportation charges have been paid nor are you entitled to deduct the claim for those charges;
We will assume the Consignment was delivered in good condition unless the recipient has noted the damage on our delivery record when he accepted the Consignment. In order for us to consider a claim for damage the contents and the original packaging must be available to us for inspection;
Your right to claim damages against us shall be extinguished unless an action is brought in a court of law of appropriate jurisdiction, within 2 years from the date of delivery of the Consignment or from the date on which the Consignment should have been delivered or from the date on which the Carriage stopped.
In case of acceptance by us of part or all of your claim, you warrant to us that your insurers or any other third party having an interest in the shipment shall have waived any rights, remedies or relief to which they might become entitled by subrogation or otherwise;
The shipment shall not be deemed to be lost until at least 30 days have elapsed since the date you notified us of the non delivery. We may agree with you in writing to shorten this period.
13. CLAIMS BROUGHT BY THIRD PARTIES
You undertake to us that you shall not permit any other person who has an interest in the consignment to bring a claim or action against us arising out of Carriage even though we may have been negligent or in default and if a claim or action is made you will indemnify us against the consequences of the claim or action and the costs and expenses we incur in defending it.
14. RATES AND PAYMENT
14.1 You agree to pay our charges for the carriage of the shipment between the locations specified on the consignment note/contract of carriage, or for the performance by us of other services, in the currency indicated in the invoice and all applicable taxes including Service Tax thereon within 7 days from the date of our invoice. Any differences or discrepancies in the invoices raised by us should be brought to our notice within 7 days of the receipt of the invoice by the Shipper failing which the invoice will be deemed to be correct and deemed to have been accepted by the Shipper. You waive all your rights to challenge our invoices if you do not contest our invoice in writing within 7 days from the date of the invoice. Our charges are calculated in accordance with the rates applicable to your shipment as set out in our current rate card or in the relevant contract. We may check the weight and/or volume of and/or the number of items within your shipment and if we find that there is a discrepancy between your declared weight and/or volume and/or number of items you agree that the weight and/or volume and/or the number of items that we determine may be used for the purpose of our calculation. As a matter of course all duties, value added taxes on goods or services and all other charges levied on the shipment in the destination shall be payable to us by the receiver upon delivery of the shipment and if the receiver refuses to pay you agree to pay us these amounts in full within 7 days of us notifying you that the receiver has not paid.
14.2 Our current rate card is available on request from any of our offices in India from which the shipment is invoiced. We charge for either the actual weight of the shipment or the volumetric weight of the shipment whichever is the higher and the volumetric weight is calculated in accordance with the volumetric conversion equation set out in our rate card.
14.3 The door to door delivery rates shown on our current rate card do not include Octroi, Entry Tax clearance formalities and charge an extra administration fee where time-consuming excessive checkpost and tax clearance work is needed to enable us to deliver your shipment to the receiver. Additional charges may therefore be applied in some locations for clearance activities. We may in some locations make advance payments of duties, taxes, penalties or have to post Bond on behalf of the Consignor and where this additional service is provided a local administration fee will be charged to the Receiver and you will be liable for this charge if the Receiver does not pay us.
14.4 Our invoice does not include a copy of the Proof of Delivery (POD), which you agree may be validly obtained or provided in a digital or electronic format, or any other additional documents.
14.5 The Shipper shall be and remain responsible to us for all our proper charges incurred for any reason and such changes shall be deemed fully earned as soon as the goods are loaded and dispatched from the Shipper’s premises and shall be payable and non-refundable in any event. This is notwithstanding any agreement or arrangement of ours with the consignee or other person, for payment of any charges towards the Carriage of consignment. The Shipper agrees that it shall not defer or withhold payment of or deduct any amount from our account by reason of any claim alleged against us.
14.6 You and the Receiver shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of all duties, taxes and charges including stamp duties as applicable on the carriage and other services as well as on all documents including the consignment note.
14.7 We reserve the right to charge interest on all outstanding invoices at the rate of 2% per month. Notwithstanding our right to charge interest and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any agreement between us, we shall have a general lien on all of your Consignments in our possession at any time with the right to sell their contents and adjust the proceeds in lieu of any amounts that you may be owing to us towards previously delivered Consignments.
15. LAW AND JURISDICTION
15.1 In the event that any term or condition is declared invalid or unenforceable such a determination shall not affect the other provisions of this contract of Carriage all of which shall remain in force.
15.2 All disputes arising out of or relating to the carriage of consignments under this contract, shall be resolved through Arbitration under the provisions of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 by an Arbitrator nominated by the Company Secretary of TNT India Private Limited. The venue of arbitration shall be Bangalore.
15.3 This agreement and any transaction based on the same shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts in Bangalore.