Multimodal transportation of goods act 1993.
This Act may be called the Multimodal
Transportation of Goods Act, 1993.
It extends to the whole of
India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
It shall be deemed to have come
into force on the 16th day of October 1992.
No person
to carry on business without registration
Provided
that a person carrying on the business of multimodal transportation immediately
before the commencement of this Act, may continue to do so for a period of
three months from such commencement; and if he has made an application for
registration within the said period, till the disposal of such application.
Registration for multimodal transportation
Any
person may apply for registration to the competent authority to carry on or
commence the business of multimodal transportation.
An
application under subsection (1) shall be made in such form as may be
prescribed and shall be accompanied by a fee of ten thousand rupees.
On
receipt of the application, the competent authority shall satisfy that the
applicant fulfills the following conditions, namely:
That the applicant has offices or agents or
representatives is not less than two other countries,
And on
being so satisfied, register the applicant as a multimodal transport operator
and grant a certificate to it to carry on.
A certificate
granted under sub-section (3) shall be valid for a period of one year and may
be renewed from time to time for a further period of one year at a time.
An
application for renewal shall be made in such form as may be prescribed and
shall be accompanied by a fee of two thousand rupees.
Issue of multimodal transport document
Where the consignor entered into a contract for
the multimodal transportation and the multimodal transport operator has taken
charge of the goods, he shall, at the option of the consignor, issue a
negotiable or non-negotiable multimodal transport document.
The multimodal transport document shall
be signed by the multimodal transport operator or by a person duly authorized
by him.
Responsibility of the consignor
The consignor shall be deemed to have
guaranteed to the multimodal transport operator the adequacy and accuracy, and
takes charge of the goods as furnished by the consignor for insertion in the
document.
The consignor shall indemnify the multimodal
transport operator against loss resulting from inadequacy or inaccuracy.
No way limit his liability
under the multimodal transport contract to any person other than the consignor.
Basis of liability of multimodal transport
operator
The multimodal transport operator shall be
liable for loss resulting from-
Any loss of, or damage to, the
consignment.
Delay in delivery of the consignment and
any consequential loss or damage arising from such delay, where such loss,
damage or delay in delivery took while the consignment was in his
charge.
If the consignment has not been
delivered within ninety consecutive days following the date of delivery
expressly agreed upon or the reasonable time, the claimant may treat the
consignment as lost.
Loss of right of multimodal transport operator
to limit liability
The multimodal transport operator shall
not be entitled to the benefit of limitation of liability under any of the
provisions of this Chapter if it is proved that the loss, damage or delay in
delivery of consignment resulted from an act or emission of the multimodal
transport operator with intent to cause such loss, damage or delay or
recklessly and with knowledge that such loss, damage or delay would probably
result.
Limit of liability of multimodal transport
operator for total loss of goods
The multimodal transport operator shall not, in
any case, be liable for an amount greater than the liability for total loss
of goods for which a person will be entitled to make a claim against him under
the provisions of this Act.
Notice of loss of or damage to goods
The delivery of the consignment to the
consignee by the multimodal transport operator shall be treated as prima
facie evidence of delivery of the goods as described in the multimodal
transport document unless notice of the general nature of loss of, or damage
to, the goods is given, in writing, by the consignee to the multimodal
transport operator at the time of handing over of the goods to the consignee.
Where the loss or damage is not apparent, the
provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply unless notice in writing is given by
the consignee of the loss of, or damage to, the goods within six consecutive
days after the day when the goods were handed over to the consignee
