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PPT, PPL to refer rift to disputes panel

THE Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and Paradeep Phosphates Limited (PPL) have decided to refer their dispute over the revision of the scale of rates and interest on arrears for arbitration to the Committee on Disputes (CoD) under the Cabinet Secretariat.

In 1993, the PPT revised the scale of rates. PPL started paying at the revised rates but under protest, citing a 1985 agreement between the two organisations. The agreement, according to PPL, provided that the port charges to be applicable to PPL would b e finalised mutually by the two organisations. No across-the-board increase in port charges would be applicable to PPL, which guaranteed nearly one million tonnes of cargo to the port every year.

PPL also contested the PPT claim of Rs 52 lakh as interest on delayed payments of port charges by PPL for the period October 1993 to August 2000. Here also, PPL referred to 1985 agreement, stating that there was a provision in the agreement empowering PP T to charge interest on delayed payments.

In fact, at one point, PPL referred the matter to a local civil court. However, the court returned the case, pointing out that it had no jurisdiction to pass order on the disputes between the two Central Government organisations. The issue was, therefore , referred to the CoD.

Meanwhile, the meeting scheduled at Paradip last week with senior officials of the Surface Transport and Fertiliser Ministries to discuss the issue was postponed as the officials could not make it to Paradip. -- Our Bureau